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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: patient · foot · pop · rash · clip · stand · kid · tear

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pop — to visit
  3. rash — hasty
  4. clip — a video
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. tear — to rip
  11. pop — music
  12. clip — for paper
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. pop — soda
  15. foot — a measure
  16. kid — child
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. rash — a series
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. clip — to cut
  22. tear — from crying
  23. stand — to bear
  24. tear — from crying

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