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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 120 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 · scale · lash · patient · net · bound · clip · bat

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. bound — tied together
  2. scale — size or range
  3. press — a publisher
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. bound — certain
  7. net — after costs
  8. scale — in music
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. press — to push
  11. net — for catching
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. bat — the animal
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. net — in sport
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. press — newspapers
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. clip — a video
  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