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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. 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. patient — calm and waiting
  2. spring — a coil
  3. tear — from crying
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. march — the month
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. scale — size or range
  8. toast — bread
  9. spring — of water
  10. march — the month
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. spring — the season
  14. perch — the fish
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. scale — in music
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. march — music
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. tear — to rip
  24. 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