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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: tear · degree · patient · game · cap · clip · land · stem

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. land — to come down
  6. degree — an amount
  7. land — ground
  8. tear — from crying
  9. clip — to cut
  10. tear — to rip
  11. degree — from a university
  12. tear — from crying
  13. clip — for paper
  14. game — a match
  15. cap — of ice
  16. land — a country
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. game — wild animals
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. cap — a hat
  22. degree — temperature
  23. stem — to come from
  24. clip — a video

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