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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. clip — to cut
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. bore — to tire
  5. bore — to drill
  6. rock — a stone
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. field — a subject
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. rock — music
  11. clip — a video
  12. net — in sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. net — after costs
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. field — for sport
  18. bore — gave birth

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