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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 120 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: clip · shower · patient · mine · plane · snap · bowl · foot

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — to cut
  3. snap — to click
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. foot — a measure
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. shower — rain
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. shower — to wash
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. plane — a tool
  23. clip — for paper
  24. mine — belonging to me

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