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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.

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: clip · land · march · spring · patient · straw · pass · foot

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. spring — of water
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. spring — the season
  6. march — music
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. clip — to cut
  11. march — the month
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. march — the month
  15. pass — a permit
  16. clip — a video
  17. spring — a coil
  18. foot — a measure
  19. land — ground
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. land — a country
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. land — to come down

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