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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. net — after costs
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. net — for catching
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. snap — to click
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. net — in sport
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. arm — part of the body

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