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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. bore — to drill
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. tear — from crying
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. tube — the underground
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. ground — a position
  12. tear — to rip
  13. ground — the earth
  14. chair — a leader
  15. tear — from crying
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. bore — to tire
  19. tube — a container
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cold — not warm
  24. ground — crushed

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