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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. season — of the year
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — not warm
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. cold — an illness
  11. season — in sport
  12. prune — to trim
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chair — a leader
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. tear — from crying

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