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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. key — in music
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. key — the most important part
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. stem — to come from
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wind — moving air
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. wind — moving air
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. tube — a container
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. cold — not warm
  21. key — for a lock
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tear — from crying

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