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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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. cold — not warm
  3. current — electric
  4. mate — to breed
  5. rest — a break
  6. mate — a friend
  7. current — happening now
  8. mate — a partner
  9. rest — what's left
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — for paper
  12. rest — what's left
  13. sharp — clever
  14. net — for catching
  15. clip — a video
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. net — after costs
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. current — of water
  23. cold — an illness
  24. net — in sport

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