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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 116 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. stock — goods
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. stock — shares
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. can — a tin
  7. wind — moving air
  8. tear — to rip
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. scale — in music
  11. row — a line
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. can — to be able to
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bear — the animal
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — to paddle
  18. can — a tin
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. scale — size or range
  21. wind — moving air
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. bear — the animal
  24. wind — to turn a key

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