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

Word bank: patient · cold · tear · stem · date · club

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. cold — an illness
  5. stem — to come from
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — the fruit
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cold — not warm
  10. club — a group
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. club — for golf
  13. club — for dancing
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. stem — a stem cell

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