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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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Word bank
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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: kid · bay · craft · tear · shower · patient

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. craft — boats
  5. craft — a skill
  6. kid — child
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. shower — rain
  11. tear — to rip
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. shower — to wash
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. shower — a meteor shower

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