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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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. net — after costs
  3. firm — steady
  4. net — in sport
  5. game — a match
  6. clip — a video
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. firm — decided
  9. clip — to cut
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. net — for catching
  12. tube — a container
  13. firm — a company
  14. row — to paddle
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. tube — the underground
  20. clip — for paper
  21. game — wild animals
  22. row — a line
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. row — a quarrel

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