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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: patient · perch · spring · pit · cold · track · shower · bore

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. track — a path
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. track — to keep track
  6. shower — to wash
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. spring — a coil
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. shower — rain
  13. cold — an illness
  14. perch — the fish
  15. bore — to drill
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. spring — of water
  18. bore — to tire
  19. pit — in a race
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. track — a song
  22. pit — a hole
  23. cold — not warm
  24. spring — the season

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