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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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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: row · clip · patient · stand · wind · mate · band · perch

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. mate — a friend
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. row — to paddle
  5. clip — a video
  6. stand — to bear
  7. clip — to cut
  8. band — a ring
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. perch — the fish
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a music group
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. clip — for paper
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — a line
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mate — a partner
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. stand — on your feet

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