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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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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 · bear · cell · wind · clip · toast · ground · foot

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. clip — a video
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. ground — a position
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. cell — a phone
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. foot — a measure
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. bear — the animal
  14. clip — to cut
  15. wind — moving air
  16. ground — crushed
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cell — in biology
  19. wind — moving air
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bear — the animal
  24. ground — the earth

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