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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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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: patient · leaves · cold · spring · calf · stock · fall · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. stock — shares
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. tear — from crying
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spring — a coil
  11. tear — to rip
  12. fall — the season
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. fall — to drop
  15. stock — goods
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. fall — to drop
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. spring — of water
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. cold — not warm
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. spring — the season

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