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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. bat — the animal
  8. rash — a series
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rash — hasty
  11. tear — from crying
  12. pitch — completely
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. fork — in a road
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. tear — to rip
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. nail — for a hammer

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