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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hand · shower · patient · toast · spring · content · cabinet · bass

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. shower — rain
  4. spring — a coil
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bass — the fish
  7. spring — of water
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. toast — bread
  14. bass — low music
  15. spring — the season
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. content — happy
  18. content — the amount
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. hand — in cards
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cabinet — ministers
  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