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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. season — in sport
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. drill — army training
  6. game — a match
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. staff — employees
  9. drill — a practice
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. perch — the fish
  12. staff — a stick
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. drill — the tool
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. season — of the year
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. staff — employees
  20. game — wild animals
  21. tear — to rip
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. tear — from crying
  24. game — a kind of play

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