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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 116 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: mine · staff · shower · land · pound · patient · spring · rock

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. staff — employees
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. rock — music
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. staff — employees
  8. staff — a stick
  9. spring — the season
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. land — to come down
  12. rock — a stone
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pound — a weight
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. spring — of water
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. mine — for digging
  20. shower — to wash
  21. land — a country
  22. spring — a coil
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. land — ground

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