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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: cold · coach · wind · foot · patient · perch · straw · tear

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. tear — to rip
  3. foot — a measure
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. wind — moving air
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. cold — an illness
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. perch — the fish
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. tear — from crying
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wind — moving air

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