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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: drill · clip · cold · suit · court · current · racket · patient

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — to cut
  5. current — of water
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. suit — to fit
  8. court — of law
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. drill — a practice
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. court — for sport
  13. suit — clothes
  14. cold — an illness
  15. drill — the tool
  16. current — happening now
  17. suit — in cards
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. court — of a king
  20. current — electric
  21. drill — army training
  22. clip — for paper
  23. patient — a sick person
  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