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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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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: patient · stand · content · wound · clip · bear · cap · cell

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. content — happy
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. clip — a video
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. bear — the animal
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cell — a phone
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. wound — an injury
  13. cap — of ice
  14. clip — to cut
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. stand — to bear
  19. cap — a hat
  20. content — the amount
  21. wound — an injury
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. bear — the animal

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