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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: shower · tear · prune · file · game · season · wound · patient

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  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. patient — calm and waiting
  2. tear — from crying
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. prune — to trim
  5. file — a tool
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. wound — an injury
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — to wash
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. file — a document
  13. season — in sport
  14. tear — from crying
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. season — of the year
  18. file — a line of people
  19. game — a match
  20. tear — to rip
  21. wound — an injury
  22. game — wild animals
  23. prune — the fruit
  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