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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: press · patient · pitcher · net · file · bass · sharp · club

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. press — to push
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. club — for dancing
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. net — after costs
  10. bass — low music
  11. club — for golf
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. file — a document
  14. net — in sport
  15. file — a tool
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. bass — the fish
  19. press — newspapers
  20. net — for catching
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. sharp — clever
  24. press — a publisher

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