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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: patient · rule · shower · fork · bat · game · swing · rash

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. rule — a law
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. rash — a series
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. game — wild animals
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. game — a match
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. shower — rain
  15. rule — government
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. bat — the animal
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. swing — music
  20. rash — hasty
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. shower — to wash
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. swing — in golf

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