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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: clip · stand · fan · cold · arm · patient · face · pass

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. face — to point toward
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. face — to confront
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. pass — a permit
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. cold — not warm
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. clip — to cut
  22. stand — to bear
  23. face — part of the head
  24. arm — a part of something

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