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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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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: mine · patient · wave · trunk · rest · wind · clip · net

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. net — for catching
  3. net — after costs
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. clip — to cut
  9. net — in sport
  10. rest — a break
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. clip — a video
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. clip — for paper
  18. rest — what's left
  19. wind — moving air
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. wind — moving air
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. mine — for digging

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