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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 120 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: staff · patient · wake · kid · clip · land · craft · game

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. land — ground
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. clip — for paper
  6. land — a country
  7. staff — employees
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. craft — boats
  10. land — to come down
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. kid — child
  13. game — a match
  14. staff — a stick
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. kid — to tease
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. wake — a trail
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. clip — to cut
  21. craft — a skill
  22. clip — a video
  23. staff — employees
  24. game — wild animals

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