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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: bark · patient · spring · lean · bore · mark · last · mine

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. bore — to tire
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. lean — to bend
  6. mark — a grade
  7. last — to go on
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. spring — of water
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. mark — a trace
  13. bark — to shout
  14. mine — for digging
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. last — final
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — the season
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. last — finally
  22. lean — thin
  23. bore — to drill
  24. lean — to rest against

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