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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: swing · patient · cold · present · temple · fine · tear · drill

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. tear — to rip
  6. fine — all right
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — not warm
  9. tear — from crying
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. present — there
  12. fine — high quality
  13. drill — the tool
  14. swing — in golf
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. swing — music
  17. swing — to play on
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. present — the time now
  20. drill — a practice
  21. present — a gift
  22. tear — from crying
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. drill — army training

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