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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 · rash · patient · hand · bound · season · rest · file

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. bound — tied together
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — in cards
  5. rest — what's left
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. rash — a series
  8. season — in sport
  9. rest — what's left
  10. shower — to wash
  11. file — a tool
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — rain
  14. season — of the year
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bound — obliged
  17. bound — certain
  18. rest — a break
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. file — a line of people
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. file — a document
  24. rash — hasty

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