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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: kick · field · patient · hand · bank · mug · degree · clip

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. degree — from a university
  3. clip — to cut
  4. degree — an amount
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. hand — help
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. hand — in cards
  9. degree — temperature
  10. mug — a face
  11. field — for sport
  12. mug — to rob
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bank — for money
  15. field — farmland
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. field — a subject
  18. bank — of a river
  19. mug — a cup
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. clip — a video
  22. kick — in football
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. clip — for paper

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