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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
468
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: capital · spring · swing · clip · kick · degree · current · patient

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. spring — a coil
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. spring — the season
  5. degree — an amount
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. kick — in football
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — from a university
  11. clip — for paper
  12. capital — money
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — in golf
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. swing — music
  17. current — of water
  18. capital — a city
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. current — happening now
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. current — electric
  23. clip — to cut
  24. spring — of water

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