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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: patient · cap · bat · race · toast · tear

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. tear — from crying
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. race — humankind
  8. cap — a hat
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. race — a contest
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. cap — of ice
  13. cap — a lid
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bat — the animal

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