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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: rest · present · kid · scale · land · patient · shower · spell

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. shower — rain
  3. land — to come down
  4. present — a gift
  5. kid — to tease
  6. scale — in music
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. rest — what's left
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. land — ground
  11. scale — size or range
  12. shower — to wash
  13. present — the time now
  14. land — a country
  15. spell — a short time
  16. rest — what's left
  17. spell — letters
  18. rest — a break
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. kid — child
  21. spell — magic
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. present — there
  24. scale — for weighing

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