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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: race · bulb · drill · patient · perch · dip · hide · cold

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. cold — not warm
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. cold — an illness
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. race — the arms race
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. drill — army training
  13. perch — the fish
  14. bulb — for light
  15. drill — a practice
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. race — humankind
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bulb — for light
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. race — a contest
  23. dip — to sink
  24. drill — the tool

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