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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: lie · patient · firm · field · spring · tear · fall · hand

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. firm — decided
  3. lie — to recline
  4. field — farmland
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. tear — from crying
  8. firm — a company
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. spring — a coil
  12. hand — in cards
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. firm — steady
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — the season
  18. field — a subject
  19. tear — to rip
  20. fall — to drop
  21. tear — from crying
  22. hand — help
  23. field — for sport
  24. spring — of water

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