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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: spring · tear · patient · fan · scale · cell · march · swing

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. cell — a phone
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. spring — of water
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. tear — to rip
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. tear — from crying
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. swing — to play on
  15. scale — in music
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. scale — size or range
  18. swing — in golf
  19. cell — in biology
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. tear — from crying
  22. swing — music
  23. spring — a coil
  24. march — the month

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