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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: kid · shower · board · sharp · rash · last · cold · patient

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. last — final
  3. cold — an illness
  4. board — a committee
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. sharp — clever
  7. rash — hasty
  8. last — finally
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. board — to get on
  13. cold — not warm
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. last — to go on
  16. kid — child
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kid — to tease
  21. shower — rain
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. shower — to wash
  24. rash — a series

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