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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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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bat — the animal
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bore — to tire
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — the season
  11. stand — to bear
  12. press — newspapers
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. press — to push
  16. perch — the fish
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. press — a publisher
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bore — to drill
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. cold — the Cold War

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