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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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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: land · kid · drill · kick · degree · clip · patient · staff

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. drill — army training
  3. land — a country
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. staff — a stick
  7. drill — a practice
  8. clip — a video
  9. kid — to tease
  10. degree — an amount
  11. clip — for paper
  12. land — ground
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. drill — the tool
  15. land — to come down
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. kid — child
  20. staff — employees
  21. kick — in football
  22. clip — to cut
  23. staff — employees
  24. kick — a thrill

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