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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 116 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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. tear — from crying
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. present — a gift
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. present — there
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. tear — from crying
  11. spring — a coil
  12. present — the time now
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — to trim
  15. season — of the year
  16. clip — to cut
  17. tear — to rip
  18. spring — the season
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — for paper
  23. spring — of water
  24. patient — a sick person

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