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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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. patient — a sick person
  4. net — in sport
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. bore — to tire
  10. file — a tool
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. cell — a phone
  13. content — the amount
  14. kick — in football
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. content — happy
  17. file — a document
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. bore — to drill
  21. net — for catching
  22. mine — for digging
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. file — a line of people

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