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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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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: march · clip · patient · cell · kid · calf

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. march — music
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. clip — to cut
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. kid — to tease
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. march — the month
  10. kid — child
  11. march — the month
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — a phone
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. cell — in biology
  18. calf — of the leg

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