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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 120 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: patient · swing · arm · hand · face · cold · clip · kick

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. face — to confront
  4. clip — a video
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. face — part of the head
  7. hand — in cards
  8. clip — for paper
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — to play on
  11. kick — in football
  12. cold — not warm
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. swing — music
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. clip — to cut
  18. face — to point toward
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. hand — help
  24. kick — a thrill

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