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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 · tear · lash · ground · racket · clip · patient · current

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ground — crushed
  3. clip — for paper
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. current — electric
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. shower — rain
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. tear — from crying
  12. current — happening now
  13. ground — the earth
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. ground — a position
  16. tear — to rip
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. current — of water
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. clip — a video
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. clip — to cut
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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