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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: shower · rash · deal · patient · cold · field · cabinet · cell

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  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. patient — a sick person
  2. deal — to handle
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. rash — a series
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cell — a phone
  7. field — for sport
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. rash — hasty
  15. field — farmland
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. shower — to wash
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. field — a subject
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. cell — in biology
  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