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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: patient · shower · tear · straw · vault · temple

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  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. patient — calm and waiting
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. vault — a safe
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. tear — from crying
  6. shower — rain
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. tear — from crying
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. tear — to rip
  15. shower — to wash
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. temple — a place of worship
  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