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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: bat · patient · rush · land · season · swing · tear · shower

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. bat — the animal
  5. rush — hurry
  6. swing — in golf
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. swing — music
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. land — ground
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. shower — to wash
  18. season — in sport
  19. season — of the year
  20. shower — rain
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. land — to come down
  23. swing — to play on
  24. land — a country

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