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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: firm · spell · wave · degree · patient · clip · march · tear

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. firm — decided
  3. spell — letters
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. clip — for paper
  6. spell — magic
  7. march — music
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. clip — a video
  10. degree — temperature
  11. clip — to cut
  12. march — the month
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. firm — steady
  16. tear — from crying
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — from a university
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. march — the month
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. spell — a short time
  24. patient — a sick person

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