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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: land · clip · cold · ground · patient · rush · pit · present

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. land — ground
  3. cold — not warm
  4. clip — for paper
  5. present — the time now
  6. rush — hurry
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. clip — to cut
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — a position
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pit — a hole
  13. land — a country
  14. clip — a video
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. present — a gift
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. present — there
  19. land — to come down
  20. cold — an illness
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. pit — in a race
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. ground — crushed

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