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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: tear · mine · patient · pound · bat · bay · staff · wind

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — a stick
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. pound — a weight
  12. wind — moving air
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. tear — from crying
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. tear — from crying
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. staff — employees
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. wind — moving air
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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