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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: row · cold · kick · patient · swing · mug · roll · stem

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. roll — a list
  4. roll — a cake
  5. row — a line
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. mug — to rob
  8. cold — not warm
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. swing — in golf
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. swing — to play on
  14. mug — a cup
  15. swing — music
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. stem — to come from
  20. cold — an illness
  21. mug — a face
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. row — to paddle

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