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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.

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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: game · fan · patient · hand · file · spell · bark · shower

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. spell — magic
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — rain
  6. file — a document
  7. bark — to shout
  8. game — wild animals
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. spell — a short time
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. hand — in cards
  16. file — a line of people
  17. spell — letters
  18. hand — help
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. file — a tool
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. game — a match
  24. bark — 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