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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. net — for catching
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. bound — tied together
  5. snap — to click
  6. bound — certain
  7. hand — in cards
  8. pit — in a race
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cold — an illness
  11. hand — help
  12. bound — obliged
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. capital — a city
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. net — after costs
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. cold — not warm
  19. capital — money
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. pit — a hole
  24. cold — the Cold War

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