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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
468
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 · bass · clip · pop · hand · perch · kick · kid

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kid — child
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. perch — the fish
  6. pop — to visit
  7. pop — soda
  8. bass — low music
  9. clip — to cut
  10. hand — in cards
  11. kid — to tease
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. pop — music
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. bass — the fish
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. hand — help
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. kick — in football

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