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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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468
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: fine · fork · shower · field · wake · patient · cold · object

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. fine — high quality
  6. shower — to wash
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. object — to protest
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. fine — all right
  12. field — a subject
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. field — for sport
  16. cold — an illness
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. fork — in a road
  19. object — an aim
  20. wake — a trail
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. object — a thing
  24. field — farmland

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