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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cold · chest · patient · pitcher · squash · shower · prune · jam

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. squash — the sport
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. squash — to crush
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. prune — to trim
  9. shower — to wash
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cold — an illness
  14. chest — of your body
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. shower — rain
  20. cold — not warm
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. chest — a box
  24. prune — to trim

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