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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.

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: tube · craft · straw · bat · swing · land · clip · patient

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. clip — a video
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. craft — a skill
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. craft — boats
  9. bat — the animal
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. land — a country
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. land — ground
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — music
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. clip — to cut
  19. tube — the underground
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. land — to come down
  23. swing — to play on
  24. clip — for paper

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