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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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Word bank
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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: hide · patient · degree · season · saw · cold · field · tear

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. field — farmland
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. season — in sport
  5. tear — to rip
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. degree — from a university
  8. saw — the tool
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. degree — temperature
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. cold — not warm
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. season — of the year
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. degree — an amount
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. field — a subject
  20. saw — the tool
  21. cold — an illness
  22. field — for sport
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — from crying

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