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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: patient · spring · row · craft · straw · fan · pitcher · firm

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. firm — steady
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. firm — a company
  5. spring — of water
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. craft — boats
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. craft — a skill
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. spring — the season
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. row — a line
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. spring — a coil
  19. firm — decided
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. row — to paddle
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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