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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: court · patient · pit · perch · shower · tear · prune · mug

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  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. tear — from crying
  2. mug — a cup
  3. tear — to rip
  4. shower — to wash
  5. court — of a king
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. mug — to rob
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. tear — from crying
  17. court — of law
  18. pit — a hole
  19. pit — in a race
  20. shower — rain
  21. mug — a face
  22. court — for sport
  23. perch — the fish
  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