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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 116 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: shower · content · land · season · branch · bear · patient · stem

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. stem — to come from
  4. land — a country
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. land — ground
  7. shower — rain
  8. bear — the animal
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. shower — to wash
  11. content — the amount
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. branch — a division
  15. content — happy
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. bear — the animal
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. land — to come down
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. stem — of a plant

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