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

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bore — to drill
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bear — the animal
  8. drill — a practice
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. fall — the season
  12. fall — to drop
  13. drill — army training
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. bore — to tire
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. bear — the animal
  21. fall — to drop
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. drill — the tool
  24. shower — rain

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