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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. tear — from crying
  6. swing — to play on
  7. swing — music
  8. cap — a lid
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cap — of ice
  14. scale — in music
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cold — not warm
  17. swing — in golf
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. scale — size or range
  21. cap — a hat
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bat — the animal

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