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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: bass · patient · pound · rush · bat · bore · pitcher · spell

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bass — low music
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. bat — the animal
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bore — to tire
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. spell — a short time
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. spell — magic
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bass — the fish
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. pound — a weight
  21. spell — letters
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. bore — to drill
  24. 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