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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: mate · file · saw · clip · race · patient · bear · object

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. mate — to breed
  3. saw — the tool
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — the arms race
  6. bear — the animal
  7. object — a thing
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. object — to protest
  10. saw — the tool
  11. mate — a friend
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. file — a tool
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. bear — the animal
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. file — a line of people
  18. object — an aim
  19. mate — a partner
  20. clip — a video
  21. race — humankind
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. file — a document

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