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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.

Words on the sheet
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: rush · date · shower · patient · chest · bark · stick · spring

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. spring — of water
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. chest — of your body
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. spring — the season
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. spring — a coil
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. chest — a box
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. rush — hurry
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. date — the fruit
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. shower — rain
  23. chest — of your body
  24. shower — to wash

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