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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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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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. tear — from crying
  4. season — in sport
  5. cue — a hint
  6. cue — for pool
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. season — of the year
  9. tear — to rip
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. row — a line
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cue — a signal
  14. row — to paddle
  15. cold — an illness
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cold — not warm
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. pound — a weight
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pound — for dogs

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