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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. game — wild animals
  3. mug — a cup
  4. net — for catching
  5. net — in sport
  6. net — after costs
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. hand — help
  9. drill — army training
  10. game — a match
  11. mug — a face
  12. mug — to rob
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. drill — a practice
  15. drill — the tool
  16. swing — to play on
  17. cell — a phone
  18. hand — in cards
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. cell — in biology
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. swing — in golf

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