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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: clip · patient · capital · kid · branch · chip · stem · bear

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. branch — a division
  4. kid — to tease
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. kid — child
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. clip — a video
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. chip — to eat
  11. clip — to cut
  12. capital — a city
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. bear — the animal
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. stem — to come from
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. capital — money
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. clip — for paper
  24. chip — for betting

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