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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. net — in sport
  3. net — after costs
  4. bound — certain
  5. chest — a box
  6. bound — tied together
  7. chest — of your body
  8. tear — from crying
  9. net — for catching
  10. bound — obliged
  11. charge — in control
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. chest — of your body
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. charge — electricity
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. charge — a price
  24. patient — a sick person

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