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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. spring — the season
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. shower — to wash
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. spring — a coil
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. tube — the underground
  11. lean — to bend
  12. tear — to rip
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. press — to push
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. press — a publisher
  17. press — newspapers
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. spring — of water
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. shower — rain
  23. lean — thin
  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