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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. clip — to cut
  5. cell — a phone
  6. clip — a video
  7. bat — the animal
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. tube — a container
  10. rule — a law
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. net — for catching
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rule — government
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. pound — a weight
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cell — in biology
  21. tube — the underground
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. net — in sport

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