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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. bear — the animal
  3. craft — a skill
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. wound — an injury
  9. tear — from crying
  10. chip — for betting
  11. row — a line
  12. tear — from crying
  13. craft — boats
  14. chip — to eat
  15. wound — an injury
  16. row — to paddle
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. bear — the animal
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. tear — to rip
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. patient — a sick person

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