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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: patient · ground · wake · fall · cell · clip · safe · game

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. ground — crushed
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wake — a trail
  5. cell — a phone
  6. fall — the season
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. game — wild animals
  9. clip — a video
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. cell — in biology
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. fall — to drop
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — the earth
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. clip — to cut
  22. game — a match
  23. fall — to drop
  24. game — a kind of play

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