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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. net — for catching
  3. net — after costs
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. game — a match
  7. roll — a list
  8. game — wild animals
  9. mark — a trace
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. ground — a position
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. net — in sport
  15. band — a ring
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. band — a music group
  19. mark — a grade
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. roll — a cake
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. ground — the earth
  24. ground — crushed

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