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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: patient · land · tube · rock · spell · tear · shower · calf

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. rock — music
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rock — a stone
  7. spell — magic
  8. land — to come down
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. tear — from crying
  11. land — a country
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. spell — a short time
  14. land — ground
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. tube — the underground
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tube — a container
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. shower — rain

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