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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: branch · shower · rush · stick · bat · chair · patient · wound

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. shower — to wash
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. rush — hurry
  7. wound — an injury
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. chair — a leader
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. shower — rain
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bat — the animal
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. branch — a division
  20. wound — an injury
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. branch — of a tree

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