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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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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: rock · bark · bat · patient · pitch · tear · ground · fan

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. bark — to shout
  3. pitch — completely
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. ground — the earth
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. ground — a position
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. tear — from crying
  13. ground — crushed
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. tear — to rip
  21. rock — music
  22. bat — the animal
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. rock — a stone

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