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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 120 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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. fall — to drop
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. fall — the season
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. perch — the fish
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. tear — from crying
  9. shower — rain
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. tear — from crying
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. fall — to drop
  17. chair — a leader
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — wild animals
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. game — a match
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bark — to shout

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