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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 124 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. craft — a skill
  5. cold — an illness
  6. tear — to rip
  7. land — to come down
  8. craft — boats
  9. last — finally
  10. season — in sport
  11. season — of the year
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. tear — from crying
  15. last — final
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. land — a country
  19. cold — not warm
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. last — to go on
  22. land — ground
  23. tear — from crying
  24. pitcher — a jug

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