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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: content · fall · shower · foot · plane · patient · date · vault

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. vault — a safe
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. date — the fruit
  8. fall — to drop
  9. plane — a tool
  10. shower — rain
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. fall — the season
  14. content — the amount
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. foot — a measure
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. shower — to wash
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. fall — to drop

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