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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: race · bear · lie · mug · cold · fan · patient · clip

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. mug — to rob
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. mug — a face
  7. cold — an illness
  8. race — humankind
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bear — the animal
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. mug — a cup
  15. race — a contest
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. lie — to recline
  23. race — the arms race
  24. lie — an untruth

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