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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 · present · wave · cold · squash · trunk · fork · spell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. squash — to crush
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. spell — magic
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. present — the time now
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. squash — the sport
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. present — a gift
  13. present — there
  14. spell — a short time
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. cold — not warm
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. cold — an illness
  24. fork — in a road

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