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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 116 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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. fall — to drop
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. net — after costs
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. net — for catching
  11. present — there
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. tear — to rip
  15. present — a gift
  16. fall — the season
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. pound — a weight
  22. net — in sport
  23. bat — the animal
  24. present — the time now

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