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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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bound — tied together
  5. land — ground
  6. bound — certain
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. bound — obliged
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cap — a lid
  14. cap — of ice
  15. land — a country
  16. perch — the fish
  17. tear — from crying
  18. land — to come down
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cap — a hat
  24. prune — to trim

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