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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. tear — to rip
  3. club — a group
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wake — a trail
  7. bound — tied together
  8. field — a subject
  9. spring — the season
  10. spring — a coil
  11. bound — certain
  12. field — for sport
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. club — for dancing
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. tear — from crying
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. field — farmland
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. bound — obliged
  22. club — for golf
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. spring — of water

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