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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: hand · club · cold · patient · shower · mouse · branch · object

  1. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. object — to protest
  4. club — for dancing
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — help
  8. branch — a division
  9. club — a group
  10. shower — to wash
  11. cold — not warm
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. object — an aim
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. club — for golf
  19. shower — rain
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. cold — an illness
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. patient — a sick person

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