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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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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: club · patient · file · wake · rest · clip · march · bay

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. rest — a break
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. clip — to cut
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. club — for dancing
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. rest — what's left
  13. march — the month
  14. clip — a video
  15. wake — a trail
  16. file — a tool
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. march — the month
  20. clip — for paper
  21. march — music
  22. rest — what's left
  23. club — a group
  24. patient — a sick person

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