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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. face — to point toward
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. scale — size or range
  5. net — for catching
  6. tear — from crying
  7. court — of law
  8. bound — obliged
  9. scale — in music
  10. court — for sport
  11. face — part of the head
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. net — in sport
  14. spring — a coil
  15. face — to confront
  16. bound — tied together
  17. tear — from crying
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. spring — the season
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. tear — to rip
  22. spring — of water
  23. net — after costs
  24. court — of a king

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