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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 · spell · object · ground · bear · tear · chest · patient

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. ground — a position
  3. spell — a short time
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — the animal
  6. chest — a box
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. tear — from crying
  10. spell — magic
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. spell — letters
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. ground — the earth
  15. object — a thing
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — of your body
  19. object — an aim
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. ground — crushed
  22. clip — for paper
  23. object — to protest
  24. tear — to rip

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