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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. track — a path
  3. capital — money
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. pound — a weight
  6. rush — hurry
  7. cell — in biology
  8. net — for catching
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. track — to keep track
  14. net — in sport
  15. track — a song
  16. clip — for paper
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. capital — a city
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. clip — a video
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. net — after costs

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