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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 116 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: wound · field · patient · clip · season · pass · band · can

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. field — farmland
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. clip — to cut
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. can — a tin
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. field — for sport
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a music group
  15. pass — a permit
  16. season — in sport
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. band — a ring
  20. can — to be able to
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. clip — a video
  23. field — a subject
  24. can — a tin

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