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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: temple · tube · kick · cold · net · spring · bark · patient

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. kick — in football
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. net — after costs
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. tube — the underground
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. net — for catching
  11. tube — a container
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. spring — the season
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — to shout
  19. net — in sport
  20. cold — not warm
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. spring — of water
  24. tube — in a tire

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