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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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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: pop · fall · mine · branch · swing · patient · trunk · spring

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. mine — for digging
  4. swing — to play on
  5. fall — to drop
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. branch — a division
  10. pop — soda
  11. spring — a coil
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. swing — music
  14. pop — music
  15. fall — to drop
  16. swing — in golf
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. spring — of water
  19. fall — the season
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. spring — the season
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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