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

Word bank: drill · shower · cold · firm · chair · patient

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. firm — steady
  3. shower — rain
  4. firm — a company
  5. drill — army training
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. drill — the tool
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. chair — a leader
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. firm — decided
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. chair — to sit on

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