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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wound · pitcher · patient · cell · tear · deal

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. tear — to rip
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. cell — a phone
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. deal — to handle
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. cell — in biology
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — an injury
  18. tear — from crying

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