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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 116 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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. press — to push
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. clip — a video
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. object — a thing
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. net — for catching
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. press — a publisher
  16. net — in sport
  17. shower — rain
  18. press — newspapers
  19. clip — to cut
  20. object — to protest
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. clip — for paper
  23. shower — to wash
  24. object — an aim

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