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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: pitcher · bass · rush · temple · patient · clip · lean · cold

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. cold — an illness
  5. clip — a video
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. cold — not warm
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bass — low music
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rush — hurry
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. bass — the fish
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. lean — thin

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