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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: shower · cell · lean · mine · wind · fall · band · patient

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. lean — to bend
  6. band — a ring
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cell — a phone
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. shower — rain
  12. fall — the season
  13. wind — moving air
  14. fall — to drop
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. shower — to wash
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. band — a music group
  19. fall — to drop
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. lean — thin

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