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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: game · land · patient · last · bank · clip · leaves · march

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  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 — calm and waiting
  2. march — music
  3. game — a match
  4. last — finally
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. clip — a video
  7. land — a country
  8. bank — of a river
  9. clip — for paper
  10. game — wild animals
  11. bank — for money
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. land — ground
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. last — to go on
  17. bank — for money
  18. last — final
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. clip — to cut
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. land — to come down
  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