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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 120 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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. bass — the fish
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bound — obliged
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. spring — of water
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bass — low music
  11. bound — certain
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. clip — to cut
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. snap — to click
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — the season
  19. clip — a video
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bound — tied together
  24. bass — the instrument

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