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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · patient · rush · degree · wave · capital · date · bulb

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. capital — a city
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. bulb — for light
  6. shower — to wash
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. degree — temperature
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. date — the fruit
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. capital — money
  18. degree — from a university
  19. rush — hurry
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. shower — rain
  22. bulb — for light
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. degree — an amount

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