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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: cell · lash · wound · season · capital · fork · spring · patient

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. spring — a coil
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. cell — in biology
  7. wound — an injury
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. spring — the season
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. season — in sport
  16. cell — a phone
  17. season — of the year
  18. spring — of water
  19. fork — in a road
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. wound — an injury
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a city

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