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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: sharp · branch · deal · cold · tear · jam · cell · patient

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. sharp — clever
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. tear — to rip
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. deal — to handle
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. tear — from crying
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. cell — a phone
  15. tear — from crying
  16. branch — a division
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. cold — an illness

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