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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: land · cold · deal · patient · clip · snap · bass · key

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. clip — a video
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. key — in music
  9. deal — to handle
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. cold — an illness
  12. land — ground
  13. key — the most important part
  14. bass — low music
  15. snap — to click
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. bass — the fish
  21. clip — for paper
  22. key — for a lock
  23. clip — to cut
  24. cold — not warm

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