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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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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: clip · spring · jam · kid · hide · patient · land · race

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. kid — to tease
  3. clip — a video
  4. land — a country
  5. land — ground
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. spring — of water
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. race — a contest
  11. clip — to cut
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. kid — child
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. clip — for paper
  17. race — humankind
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. spring — the season
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. land — to come down
  23. spring — a coil
  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