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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 · prune · shower · straw · stock · plane · hand · nail

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. stock — goods
  3. prune — to trim
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. hand — in cards
  13. prune — to trim
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. stock — shares
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. shower — rain
  20. plane — a tool
  21. shower — to wash
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. straw — dry grass

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