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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: patient · cap · shower · mate · land · roll · ball · club

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. land — a country
  4. club — for golf
  5. shower — rain
  6. cap — a hat
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. shower — to wash
  11. roll — a cake
  12. club — for dancing
  13. mate — to breed
  14. cap — of ice
  15. land — ground
  16. cap — a lid
  17. club — a group
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. mate — a friend
  20. roll — a list
  21. mate — a partner
  22. land — to come down
  23. ball — a great time
  24. roll — on a roll

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