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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: jam · lean · cold · pitcher · perch · tear · patient · deal

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. deal — to handle
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. cold — not warm
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. cold — an illness
  11. lean — thin
  12. lean — to bend
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. tear — to rip
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. perch — the fish
  24. jam — a tight spot

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