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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. net — in sport
  5. net — after costs
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. roll — a cake
  13. fork — in a road
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. squash — to crush
  18. roll — a list
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. squash — the sport
  21. mine — for digging
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. bat — in an idiom

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