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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: roll · chip · patient · bass · prune · field · march · clip

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. march — music
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. chip — to eat
  5. chip — for betting
  6. field — a subject
  7. roll — a list
  8. field — farmland
  9. clip — to cut
  10. field — for sport
  11. bass — low music
  12. bass — the fish
  13. march — the month
  14. clip — a video
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. roll — a cake
  17. march — the month
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. clip — for paper
  20. prune — to trim
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. roll — on a roll
  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