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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: date · hand · shower · patient · dip · mouse · pass · cold

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. hand — help
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. cold — not warm
  6. hand — in cards
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. shower — to wash
  11. pass — a permit
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. shower — rain
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. dip — to sink
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. date — the fruit

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