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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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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: prune · patient · cue · race · clip · kid · stand · pitcher

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. clip — to cut
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. clip — a video
  5. prune — to trim
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. stand — to bear
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cue — a hint
  10. cue — for pool
  11. kid — to tease
  12. race — humankind
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. race — a contest
  20. clip — for paper
  21. kid — child
  22. race — the arms race
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. cue — a signal

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