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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: shower · straw · bass · patient · season · fall · chip · tear

  1. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. fall — the season
  5. fall — to drop
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. chip — for betting
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. season — of the year
  13. fall — to drop
  14. tear — from crying
  15. chip — to eat
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. tear — from crying
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. bass — the fish
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. tear — to rip
  22. season — in sport
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — to wash

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