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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. tear — from crying
  3. band — a ring
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. stand — to bear
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. tear — from crying
  8. band — a music group
  9. file — a line of people
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — a leader
  12. file — a document
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. tear — to rip
  17. net — in sport
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. net — after costs
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. net — for catching
  24. file — a tool

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