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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: pitcher · hide · land · patient · stock · cabinet · fork · shower

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — a country
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. stock — shares
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. land — ground
  10. stock — goods
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. fork — in a road
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — rain
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. shower — to wash
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. hide — to keep secret

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