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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. chair — a leader
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cold — not warm
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. staff — employees
  7. prune — to trim
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. net — after costs
  13. prune — to trim
  14. net — for catching
  15. staff — employees
  16. pitch — completely
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. tear — to rip
  21. net — in sport
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. staff — a stick

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