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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cue — a signal
  3. squash — the sport
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. chest — of your body
  6. branch — a division
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. drill — the tool
  9. tear — from crying
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. cue — for pool
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. cue — a hint
  15. tear — from crying
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. squash — to crush
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — a practice
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. tear — to rip
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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