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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. season — of the year
  3. tear — from crying
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. tear — from crying
  12. season — in sport
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. tear — to rip
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. rock — a stone
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. sharp — clever
  24. sharp — with an edge

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