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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: band · kick · hand · capital · clip · patient · content · rest

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. hand — help
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. kick — in football
  7. capital — money
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. clip — a video
  10. rest — what's left
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. rest — a break
  14. band — a music group
  15. content — the amount
  16. clip — for paper
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. hand — in cards
  19. capital — a city
  20. clip — to cut
  21. band — a ring
  22. content — happy
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. rest — what's left

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