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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: mark · date · branch · kid · mine · patient · pass · clip

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. clip — a video
  3. mark — a trace
  4. date — the fruit
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. clip — for paper
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. mine — for digging
  10. branch — a division
  11. mark — a grade
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. kid — child
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. clip — to cut
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. pass — a permit
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. patient — a sick person

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