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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 · temple · net · shower · spell · bore · scale · field

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. spell — letters
  3. shower — rain
  4. field — a subject
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. field — for sport
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — in music
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. bore — to drill
  16. net — for catching
  17. bore — to tire
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. field — farmland
  20. net — in sport
  21. spell — a short time
  22. net — after costs
  23. spell — magic
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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