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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: tear · patient · mate · coach · cold · rash · ball · bat

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. tear — from crying
  3. ball — a dance
  4. bat — the animal
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. ball — a great time
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. rash — hasty
  13. cold — an illness
  14. tear — from crying
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. mate — a friend
  17. rash — a series
  18. mate — a partner
  19. tear — to rip
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. cold — not warm
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. cold — the Cold War

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