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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bound — obliged
  3. hand — in cards
  4. net — for catching
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. clip — a video
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bound — tied together
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. tear — from crying
  14. net — in sport
  15. net — after costs
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bound — certain
  20. tear — to rip
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. clip — for paper
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. hand — help

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