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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: patient · kick · tear · cold · spell · pit · season · row

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. spell — magic
  3. season — of the year
  4. tear — from crying
  5. kick — in football
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. tear — to rip
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. spell — letters
  14. row — to paddle
  15. tear — from crying
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. row — a line
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. pit — in a race
  20. cold — not warm
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. cold — an illness
  23. spell — a short time
  24. season — in sport

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