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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 120 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: drill · present · patient · foot · lie · cap · row · tear

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. drill — army training
  4. foot — a measure
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. present — the time now
  7. tear — from crying
  8. drill — a practice
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cap — a hat
  11. drill — the tool
  12. lie — to recline
  13. cap — of ice
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. tear — to rip
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a line
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. present — there
  24. cap — a lid

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