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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: clip · arm · patient · wind · dip · degree · lean · wake

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. lean — to bend
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. wind — moving air
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. wind — moving air
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. degree — an amount
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wake — a trail
  11. dip — to sink
  12. clip — for paper
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. lean — thin
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. degree — temperature
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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