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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.

Make a worksheet

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: bear · pop · clip · season · charge · straw · patient · cold

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. charge — electricity
  3. season — of the year
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. pop — soda
  6. clip — to cut
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. clip — for paper
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. clip — a video
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. season — in sport
  15. charge — in control
  16. bear — the animal
  17. charge — a price
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pop — music
  22. bear — the animal
  23. pop — to visit
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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