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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. wind — moving air
  3. march — music
  4. clip — to cut
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. clip — a video
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. net — after costs
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. net — in sport
  13. current — happening now
  14. current — electric
  15. rock — music
  16. clip — for paper
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. deal — to handle
  19. march — the month
  20. wind — moving air
  21. current — of water
  22. march — the month
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. rock — a stone

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