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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. spell — magic
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. content — happy
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. hand — help
  17. cold — an illness
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. content — the amount
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. spell — a short time
  23. cold — not warm
  24. spell — letters

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