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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. spring — a coil
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. bat — the animal
  6. rash — a series
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spring — of water
  9. branch — a division
  10. rash — hasty
  11. spring — the season
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. patient — a sick person

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