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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: patient · lean · clip · cell · staff · racket

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. clip — to cut
  3. staff — employees
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. clip — for paper
  7. staff — a stick
  8. cell — in biology
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — a phone
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. lean — to bend
  15. staff — employees
  16. clip — a video
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. patient — a sick person

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