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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. fall — to drop
  3. tear — from crying
  4. press — a publisher
  5. march — the month
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. rash — hasty
  9. hand — in cards
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. press — to push
  12. march — music
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. rash — a series
  17. press — newspapers
  18. fall — the season
  19. fall — to drop
  20. march — the month
  21. tear — from crying
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. tear — to rip

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