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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
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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: field · club · present · spring · clip · patient · wound · row

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. clip — to cut
  3. present — a gift
  4. club — a group
  5. club — for dancing
  6. wound — an injury
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. clip — for paper
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — for sport
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — the season
  14. present — there
  15. club — for golf
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. clip — a video
  18. wound — an injury
  19. field — a subject
  20. present — the time now
  21. row — a line
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. spring — a coil

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