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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: field · drill · patient · tear · kid · bulb · hand · shower

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bulb — for light
  5. kid — child
  6. drill — army training
  7. hand — help
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. shower — to wash
  11. drill — the tool
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. tear — to rip
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. drill — a practice
  16. field — farmland
  17. bulb — for light
  18. field — for sport
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — rain
  21. tear — from crying
  22. hand — in cards
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. hand — part of the body

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