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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. net — after costs
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. fall — to drop
  5. perch — the fish
  6. charge — in control
  7. net — for catching
  8. cap — a hat
  9. cap — a lid
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. charge — a price
  12. fall — the season
  13. charge — electricity
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. fall — to drop
  16. spring — a coil
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. spring — the season
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. spring — of water
  22. cap — of ice
  23. net — in sport
  24. perch — for a bird

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