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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: clip · bowl · cap · patient · present · club · rock · spring

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. present — a gift
  4. club — for dancing
  5. club — a group
  6. spring — of water
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. clip — for paper
  9. rock — a stone
  10. spring — the season
  11. club — for golf
  12. spring — a coil
  13. clip — a video
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. cap — of ice
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. present — there
  21. cap — a hat
  22. present — the time now
  23. cap — a lid
  24. rock — to move gently

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