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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 116 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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. court — of law
  3. spring — of water
  4. file — a line of people
  5. court — for sport
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bark — to shout
  9. lean — to bend
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. file — a tool
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. bat — the animal
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. court — of a king
  16. spring — the season
  17. lean — thin
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. file — a document

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