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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: chest · fan · sharp · pit · patient · spell · tube · clip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. 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. clip — a video
  2. chest — of your body
  3. spell — a short time
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. spell — letters
  8. tube — the underground
  9. sharp — clever
  10. chest — a box
  11. pit — a hole
  12. spell — magic
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. pit — in a race
  15. chest — of your body
  16. tube — a container
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. 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