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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.

Make a worksheet

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: rush · land · patient · hide · coach · tear · drill · perch

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. tear — from crying
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. land — to come down
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. perch — the fish
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. tear — from crying
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. drill — army training
  15. tear — to rip
  16. drill — a practice
  17. land — a country
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. land — ground
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. drill — the tool
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. hide — animal skin

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