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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: ruler · patient · pound · snap · root · clip · mine · march

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. clip — to cut
  5. snap — to click
  6. pound — a weight
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. clip — a video
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. clip — for paper
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. march — the month
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. root — of a word
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. root — the cause
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. march — music
  23. root — of a plant
  24. march — the month

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