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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: tube · trunk · march · tear · patient · cold · cell · craft

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. cold — not warm
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. tube — the underground
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. march — the month
  12. craft — a skill
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. cell — in biology
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. craft — boats
  22. march — music
  23. cell — a phone
  24. tube — a container

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