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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. present — the time now
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. pound — a weight
  7. shower — rain
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. present — there
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. present — a gift
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. last — to go on
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. bat — the animal
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. last — finally
  22. cold — an illness
  23. last — final
  24. cold — the Cold War

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