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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. wind — moving air
  4. current — of water
  5. current — happening now
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. land — to come down
  8. tear — from crying
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. spring — of water
  12. tear — to rip
  13. spring — a coil
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. bear — the animal
  16. perch — the fish
  17. land — a country
  18. land — ground
  19. bear — the animal
  20. tear — from crying
  21. wind — moving air
  22. spring — the season
  23. current — electric
  24. perch — for a bird

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