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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. cold — not warm
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. capital — money
  6. last — finally
  7. bound — tied together
  8. last — final
  9. net — for catching
  10. capital — a city
  11. band — a music group
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bound — certain
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. last — to go on
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — low music
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. band — a ring
  21. net — in sport
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. bound — obliged
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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