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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 120 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 were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  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. kick — in football
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. tube — a container
  5. press — a publisher
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. press — newspapers
  10. tear — to rip
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. press — to push
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. tube — the underground
  15. drill — a practice
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. tear — from crying
  20. drill — the tool
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. drill — army training
  23. tear — from crying
  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