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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 120 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. tear — from crying
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. swing — in golf
  6. swing — to play on
  7. swing — music
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. tube — a container
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. bat — the animal
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. tear — from crying
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tube — the underground
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. pit — in a race
  24. pit — a hole

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