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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: game · patient · row · spring · fall · nail · date · lean

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. fall — the season
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. fall — to drop
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. lean — to bend
  10. spring — the season
  11. fall — to drop
  12. row — a line
  13. game — a match
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. lean — thin
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. date — the fruit
  22. spring — a coil
  23. row — to paddle
  24. nail — for a hammer

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