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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — rain
  4. game — a match
  5. game — wild animals
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. prune — to trim
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. rash — a series

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