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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 116 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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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 · wound · band · pit · lean · shower · key · cold

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  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. lean — to bend
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. band — a ring
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. key — for a lock
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. band — a music group
  9. key — in music
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. pit — a hole
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. lean — thin
  16. cold — not warm
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. pit — in a race
  19. cold — an illness
  20. shower — rain
  21. key — the most important part
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  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