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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. court — for sport
  3. bound — tied together
  4. pop — to visit
  5. bound — certain
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. pop — soda
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. court — of law
  11. capital — money
  12. pop — music
  13. stem — to come from
  14. net — after costs
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. net — for catching
  18. court — of a king
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. chip — for betting
  21. chip — to eat
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bound — obliged

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