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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. tear — to rip
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. rush — hurry
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. pop — music
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. tube — a container
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. hand — in cards
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. pop — to visit
  20. tear — from crying
  21. pop — soda
  22. tear — from crying
  23. wind — moving air
  24. tube — the underground

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