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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: coach · safe · cold · prune · shower · patient · hand · fall

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. fall — the season
  4. shower — rain
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — in cards
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. fall — to drop
  13. cold — an illness
  14. fall — to drop
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cold — not warm
  18. prune — to trim
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. coach — a trainer

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