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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: patient · mouse · branch · game · clip · mine · pitcher · fan

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. mine — for digging
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. branch — a division
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. game — wild animals
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. clip — to cut
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. clip — for paper
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. clip — a video
  24. mouse — for a computer

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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