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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. clip — a video
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. net — after costs
  7. bound — tied together
  8. net — for catching
  9. mine — for digging
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. chair — a leader
  18. bound — obliged
  19. clip — to cut
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. net — in sport
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bound — certain
  24. patient — a sick person

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