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

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. net — after costs
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. net — in sport
  9. hand — in cards
  10. net — for catching
  11. bound — tied together
  12. cold — not warm
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. pit — a hole
  15. bound — obliged
  16. pit — in a race
  17. bound — certain
  18. cold — an illness

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