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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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. fall — to drop
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. net — after costs
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. net — for catching
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. clip — to cut
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. snap — to click
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. net — in sport
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. mine — for digging
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. content — happy
  21. fall — the season
  22. content — the amount
  23. fall — to drop
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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