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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 120 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: hand · patient · pitcher · fan · march · shower · lie · wound

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. march — the month
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. hand — help
  6. shower — rain
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. hand — in cards
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — to wash
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. lie — to recline
  24. lie — an untruth

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