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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. game — wild animals
  3. net — in sport
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. file — a tool
  8. bass — the fish
  9. net — for catching
  10. cell — a phone
  11. squash — to crush
  12. mug — a cup
  13. squash — the sport
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. net — after costs
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. mug — to rob
  20. cell — in biology
  21. game — a match
  22. file — a document
  23. bass — low music
  24. file — a line of people

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