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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 116 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 · bark · vault · shower · sharp · spell · last · drill

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. shower — rain
  4. vault — a safe
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. drill — army training
  7. spell — letters
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. spell — magic
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. last — to go on
  12. shower — to wash
  13. last — final
  14. last — finally
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. sharp — clever
  18. drill — a practice
  19. bark — to shout
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. spell — a short time
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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