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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. rule — government
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. net — for catching
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. net — after costs
  10. rest — a break
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. rest — what's left
  14. file — a tool
  15. rule — a law
  16. file — a document
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. snap — to click
  23. rest — what's left
  24. file — a line of people

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