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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 116 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: mine · pop · trunk · shower · patient · scale · can · drill

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. scale — size or range
  3. can — a tin
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. mine — for digging
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. scale — in music
  10. pop — music
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. drill — the tool
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. can — to be able to
  16. pop — soda
  17. shower — rain
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. drill — army training
  20. pop — to visit
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. can — a tin
  23. drill — a practice
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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