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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. land — to come down
  3. spring — the season
  4. branch — a division
  5. net — for catching
  6. land — ground
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bear — the animal
  10. chair — a leader
  11. current — happening now
  12. spring — a coil
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bear — the animal
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. land — a country
  18. net — after costs
  19. current — electric
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. current — of water
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. spring — of water
  24. net — in sport

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