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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. wound — an injury
  3. tear — from crying
  4. object — to protest
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. fall — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. object — a thing
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — the arms race
  11. fall — to drop
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. rock — a stone
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. spring — the season
  17. rock — music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. spring — of water
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. object — an aim
  22. spring — a coil
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. race — a contest

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