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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: rest · net · clip · patient · tear · tube · bound · bat

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. tear — from crying
  3. clip — a video
  4. tear — to rip
  5. rest — what's left
  6. bound — obliged
  7. tube — the underground
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. tear — from crying
  11. clip — to cut
  12. rest — a break
  13. net — after costs
  14. net — in sport
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bound — tied together
  18. bound — certain
  19. rest — what's left
  20. tube — a container
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. net — for catching
  24. tube — in a tire

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