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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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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: fall · bound · mate · net · cell · patient · tear · ground

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. mate — to breed
  4. mate — a friend
  5. tear — from crying
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bound — tied together
  8. ground — a position
  9. tear — to rip
  10. bound — certain
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. cell — a phone
  13. fall — to drop
  14. ground — the earth
  15. bound — obliged
  16. net — in sport
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. mate — a partner
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cell — in biology
  21. ground — crushed
  22. fall — the season
  23. fall — to drop
  24. net — for catching

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