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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 116 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  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. sharp — exactly
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. tear — from crying
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. chair — a leader
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. drill — the tool
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. drill — army training
  16. cold — not warm
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. pitch — completely
  20. drill — a practice
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. sharp — clever
  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