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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 120 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: foot · rash · patient · cap · shower · spring · scale · track

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. foot — a measure
  3. rash — hasty
  4. cap — a hat
  5. shower — rain
  6. rash — a series
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. scale — size or range
  9. spring — a coil
  10. track — to keep track
  11. spring — of water
  12. shower — to wash
  13. cap — of ice
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. spring — the season
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. scale — in music
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. track — a path
  22. track — a song
  23. cap — a lid
  24. foot — the bottom

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