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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: track · degree · patient · hide · ground · clip · march · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. march — music
  3. track — to keep track
  4. degree — an amount
  5. ground — the earth
  6. clip — a video
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. march — the month
  9. clip — to cut
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. track — a path
  12. degree — from a university
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — ground
  18. march — the month
  19. ground — a position
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. degree — temperature
  22. clip — for paper
  23. track — a song
  24. ground — crushed

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