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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tear — from crying
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. game — a match
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. tear — to rip
  8. vault — a safe
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. game — wild animals
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. net — in sport
  14. file — a tool
  15. net — after costs
  16. tube — a container
  17. file — a document
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. file — a line of people
  24. straw — a straw man

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