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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
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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: rush · game · shower · row · cell · lie · patient · spell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. row — a line
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. row — to paddle
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. lie — to recline
  8. spell — a short time
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — to wash
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. game — wild animals
  17. cell — a phone
  18. rush — hurry
  19. shower — rain
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. game — a match
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. cell — in biology
  24. spell — magic

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