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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. fall — to drop
  3. net — after costs
  4. fall — the season
  5. land — a country
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bound — obliged
  11. land — to come down
  12. band — a music group
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. fall — to drop
  15. net — for catching
  16. key — in music
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. key — for a lock
  19. key — the most important part
  20. bat — the animal
  21. net — in sport
  22. bound — certain
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bound — tied together

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