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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. face — to point toward
  3. firm — a company
  4. net — in sport
  5. march — music
  6. land — a country
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. net — for catching
  12. net — after costs
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. bulb — for light
  15. firm — decided
  16. land — ground
  17. face — part of the head
  18. land — to come down
  19. bulb — for light
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. face — to confront
  22. march — the month
  23. clip — a video
  24. march — the month

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