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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: patient · bass · jam · row · clip · net · kid · season

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. season — in sport
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. row — a line
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. row — to paddle
  9. net — after costs
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — for catching
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. bass — the fish
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. kid — to tease
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. clip — a video
  19. bass — low music
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. kid — child
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. season — of the year

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