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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mate · mine · face · can · snap · patient · last · net

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. last — final
  3. can — a tin
  4. last — finally
  5. face — to point toward
  6. net — after costs
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. can — to be able to
  10. net — in sport
  11. mate — to breed
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mate — a partner
  14. mate — a friend
  15. snap — to click
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. net — for catching
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. mine — for digging
  20. last — to go on
  21. can — a tin
  22. face — to confront
  23. face — part of the head
  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