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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: bore · clip · patient · chair · prune · cold · lie · fine

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bore — to tire
  9. bore — to drill
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — for paper
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. lie — to recline
  15. clip — a video
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. prune — to trim
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. chair — a leader
  22. fine — all right
  23. fine — high quality
  24. cold — an illness

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