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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.

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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: patient · cold · saw · vault · field · charge · chip · clip

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. charge — electricity
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. clip — a video
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. chip — for betting
  11. chip — to eat
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. charge — in control
  16. saw — the tool
  17. charge — a price
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. vault — a safe
  24. chip — in a computer

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