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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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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: press · shower · patient · toast · tear · mine · racket · cell

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. shower — to wash
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. tear — from crying
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. tear — to rip
  11. toast — bread
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. press — newspapers
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in biology
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. press — to push
  21. mine — for digging
  22. press — a publisher
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. shower — rain

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