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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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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 · race · spring · bay · patient · wake · tube · last

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. tube — the underground
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cell — a phone
  5. spring — the season
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. last — finally
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. race — humankind
  10. last — to go on
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — a contest
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. wake — a trail
  15. cell — in biology
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. last — final
  19. tube — a container
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — of water
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. wake — before a funeral

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