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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: tear · patient · bowl · vault · foot · shower

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  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. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. tear — to rip
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. shower — to wash
  10. tear — from crying
  11. vault — a safe
  12. foot — a measure
  13. tear — from crying
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  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