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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. tear — from crying
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. dip — to sink
  7. mine — for digging
  8. spring — a coil
  9. tear — to rip
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. spring — of water
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. wax — to grow
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cold — an illness
  22. spring — the season
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. dip — a sauce

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