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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: cell · patient · clip · stand · pitch · rule

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. stand — to bear
  3. clip — to cut
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. clip — a video
  6. rule — government
  7. clip — for paper
  8. cell — a phone
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rule — a law
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. pitch — completely
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — in a prison

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