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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: cell · degree · pitch · lean · patient · kick · clip · wave

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. clip — for paper
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. lean — to bend
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. degree — temperature
  8. kick — in football
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. clip — a video
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cell — in biology
  13. pitch — completely
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. clip — to cut
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. cell — a phone
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. degree — an amount

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