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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.

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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: ground · patient · bank · face · club · clip

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. clip — for paper
  3. club — for dancing
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. face — part of the head
  6. bank — for money
  7. face — to confront
  8. clip — to cut
  9. ground — a position
  10. club — for golf
  11. bank — of a river
  12. club — a group
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bank — for money
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. ground — crushed
  17. ground — the earth
  18. clip — a video

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