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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: leaves · patient · perch · branch · cold · tear · bowl · kid

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — the fish
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. kid — to tease
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. tear — from crying
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — an illness
  15. branch — a division
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. tear — to rip
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. kid — child
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bowl — a dish

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