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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: rest · jam · patient · trunk · mine · row · wave · hide

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. mine — for digging
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. rest — what's left
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. rest — a break
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. rest — what's left
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. row — a line
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. row — to paddle
  24. mine — an explosive

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