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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: racket · lean · patient · rule · bore · club · tear · cold

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. rule — government
  3. club — a group
  4. cold — not warm
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. tear — to rip
  7. lean — thin
  8. rule — a law
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. bore — to tire
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. club — for dancing
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cold — an illness
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. club — for golf
  18. lean — to bend
  19. tear — from crying
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. bore — to drill
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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