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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: track · shower · prune · hand · patient · wind · mate · current

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mate — a partner
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. shower — rain
  6. mate — a friend
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. current — happening now
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. mate — to breed
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. track — a path
  15. current — of water
  16. shower — to wash
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. track — to keep track
  19. current — electric
  20. wind — moving air
  21. prune — to trim
  22. track — a song
  23. wind — moving air
  24. hand — help

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