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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: row · patient · cold · bowl · spring · hand · lean · roll

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. spring — the season
  5. roll — a list
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. lean — to bend
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. spring — a coil
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. spring — of water
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. hand — in cards
  16. cold — not warm
  17. row — to paddle
  18. lean — thin
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. roll — a cake
  21. row — a line
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — help

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