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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 120 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. spring — the season
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. rash — a series
  5. spring — of water
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. net — for catching
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rule — government
  10. net — after costs
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. can — a tin
  14. clip — to cut
  15. can — to be able to
  16. clip — for paper
  17. rule — a law
  18. net — in sport
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. spring — a coil
  21. content — the amount
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. can — a tin
  24. clip — a video

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