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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: fall · pass · degree · lie · shower · patient · wax · field

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. lie — to recline
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. shower — rain
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. fall — the season
  9. field — a subject
  10. fall — to drop
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. pass — a permit
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. field — farmland
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. degree — from a university
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. wax — to grow
  20. field — for sport
  21. degree — an amount
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. fall — to drop
  24. degree — temperature

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