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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: snap · shower · press · patient · pitcher · club · saw · cold

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. club — for dancing
  4. saw — the tool
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. snap — to click
  8. press — to push
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. club — for golf
  11. saw — the tool
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. shower — rain
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. press — a publisher
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. press — newspapers
  23. shower — to wash
  24. club — a group

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