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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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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: rest · patient · game · shower · foot · snap · pound · chest

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. shower — to wash
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. chest — of your body
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. chest — of your body
  12. shower — rain
  13. pound — a weight
  14. chest — a box
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. foot — a measure
  17. game — a match
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. rest — what's left
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. rest — what's left
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. game — wild animals

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