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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. cap — a hat
  3. bass — low music
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. fall — to drop
  7. roll — a cake
  8. perch — the fish
  9. tear — from crying
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. lean — to bend
  12. roll — a list
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. cap — of ice
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. fall — to drop
  18. lean — thin
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. tear — to rip
  21. cap — a lid
  22. bass — the fish
  23. tear — from crying
  24. fall — the season

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