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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: bass · scale · drill · shower · cold · charge · patient · field

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. shower — rain
  3. cold — not warm
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. cold — an illness
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. drill — the tool
  10. charge — electricity
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. scale — size or range
  13. charge — in control
  14. bass — low music
  15. bass — the fish
  16. scale — in music
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. field — for sport
  19. charge — a price
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. drill — army training
  22. shower — to wash
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. patient — a sick person

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