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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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bound — tied together
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. bound — obliged
  7. pop — music
  8. file — a tool
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. pop — soda
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. bound — certain
  13. pop — to visit
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. tear — to rip
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. file — a line of people
  19. mine — for digging
  20. file — a document
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. tear — from crying
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. trunk — of a tree

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