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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: patient · shower · bat · tube · snap · bear · wound · bark

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. snap — to click
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. wound — an injury
  7. tube — a container
  8. tube — the underground
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bear — the animal
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. shower — rain
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bark — to shout
  21. wound — an injury
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. bear — to put up with

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