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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 · rest · patient · fine · staff · game · date · tear

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  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. staff — a stick
  2. staff — employees
  3. fine — high quality
  4. date — the fruit
  5. fine — all right
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. rest — a break
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. rest — what's left
  11. game — a match
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. tear — from crying
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. shower — to wash
  18. staff — employees
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. tear — from crying
  21. rest — what's left
  22. game — wild animals
  23. tear — to rip
  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