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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. drill — the tool
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cell — in biology
  5. tear — from crying
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. pop — music
  9. drill — army training
  10. swing — to play on
  11. swing — in golf
  12. pop — to visit
  13. chair — a leader
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. drill — a practice
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. cell — a phone
  19. tear — to rip
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — for digging
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. swing — music

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