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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: bound · chair · drill · clip · stem · foot · patient · kid

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. chair — a leader
  3. drill — army training
  4. clip — a video
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. clip — for paper
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. bound — obliged
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. bound — certain
  13. bound — tied together
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. drill — a practice
  16. clip — to cut
  17. kid — child
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. kid — to tease
  23. foot — a measure
  24. stem — to come from

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