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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: patient · sharp · tear · temple · pitcher · band · shower · spell

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. tear — to rip
  3. tear — from crying
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. band — a music group
  6. spell — magic
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. tear — from crying
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. shower — to wash
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. spell — a short time
  20. band — a ring
  21. shower — rain
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. spell — letters
  24. sharp — clever

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