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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: row · chair · spring · patient · race · mate

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. spring — the season
  3. chair — a leader
  4. spring — of water
  5. race — a contest
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. mate — a partner
  8. row — a line
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. mate — to breed
  12. mate — a friend
  13. spring — a coil
  14. race — the arms race
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. row — to paddle
  17. race — humankind
  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