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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 took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — humankind
  5. rock — music
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. clip — a video
  9. race — the arms race
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. net — after costs
  12. rock — a stone
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. clip — to cut
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. fork — in a road
  20. clip — for paper
  21. shower — rain
  22. bark — to shout
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. net — in sport

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