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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 ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. mine — for digging
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cold — an illness
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cold — not warm
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. ground — a position
  18. tear — to rip
  19. content — happy
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. ground — crushed
  24. content — the amount

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