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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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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: patient · prune · bass · tube · wave · tear · spell · temple

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. tube — a container
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. prune — to trim
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tear — from crying
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. bass — the fish
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. spell — letters
  18. tear — from crying
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. spell — a short time
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. spell — magic

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