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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 · bound · wake · can · tear · chest · shower · patient

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. bass — low music
  3. shower — to wash
  4. can — a tin
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bound — obliged
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — certain
  15. chest — a box
  16. tear — from crying
  17. shower — rain
  18. can — a tin
  19. can — to be able to
  20. bass — the fish
  21. wake — a trail
  22. tear — to rip
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. tear — from crying

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