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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. season — of the year
  4. tear — from crying
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. prune — to trim
  7. tear — from crying
  8. race — humankind
  9. plane — a tool
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. tear — to rip
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. season — in sport
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. race — the arms race
  17. present — there
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. present — the time now
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. date — the fruit
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. race — a contest
  24. plane — in geometry

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