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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 120 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 water is too ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. pass — a permit
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. rash — hasty
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. rash — a series
  24. cold — an illness

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