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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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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: shower · spell · patient · clip · nail · saw

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. saw — the tool
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. saw — the tool
  10. clip — a video
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. spell — magic
  13. clip — for paper
  14. shower — rain
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — a short time
  18. patient — a sick person

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