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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 120 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: club · shower · patient · stick · pound · branch · cold · fan

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. club — for golf
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. branch — a division
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. shower — to wash
  16. cold — not warm
  17. club — for dancing
  18. pound — a weight
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. club — a group
  21. shower — rain
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. cold — an illness

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