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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: patient · bass · spell · net · mine · straw · fan · band

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. net — after costs
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bass — low music
  8. net — for catching
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. band — a music group
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. spell — magic
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bass — the fish
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. net — in sport
  19. spell — a short time
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. straw — dry grass

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