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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  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. can — a tin
  2. spring — of water
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. can — to be able to
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. branch — a division
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. chip — to eat
  10. cold — not warm
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. can — a tin
  13. chip — for betting
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. spring — the season
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. hand — in cards
  22. spring — a coil
  23. hand — help
  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