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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mate · patient · chest · clip · cell · straw · trunk · craft

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. chest — of your body
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. mate — a friend
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. clip — to cut
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. clip — for paper
  9. chest — of your body
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. craft — a skill
  12. mate — a partner
  13. chest — a box
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. mate — to breed
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. clip — a video
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. cell — a phone
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. craft — boats

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com