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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: clip · last · prune · bowl · patient · key · bat · game

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. game — a match
  3. last — final
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. game — wild animals
  8. key — in music
  9. last — finally
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. key — for a lock
  12. clip — for paper
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. key — the most important part
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. prune — to trim
  20. last — to go on
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — a video
  23. prune — to trim
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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