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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. net — for catching
  3. press — a publisher
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. wound — an injury
  6. club — a group
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. clip — to cut
  10. press — to push
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. net — in sport
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. wound — an injury
  15. club — for dancing
  16. capital — money
  17. press — newspapers
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. capital — a city
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. club — for golf
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. net — after costs

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