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

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. spring — the season
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. band — a ring
  6. cell — a phone
  7. spring — of water
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. spring — a coil
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. pop — to visit
  12. pop — soda
  13. pop — music
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. cell — in biology
  16. rush — hurry
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. wound — an injury
  21. deal — to handle
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. wound — an injury
  24. band — a music group

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