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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: pass · shower · perch · content · patient · bass · branch · race

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bass — low music
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. race — the arms race
  7. branch — a division
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. pass — a permit
  10. race — a contest
  11. shower — rain
  12. race — humankind
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bass — the fish
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. perch — the fish
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. content — the amount
  22. content — happy
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. content — videos and posts

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