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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: fall · spring · patient · chip · bat · hand · kick · stem

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. chip — for betting
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. chip — to eat
  7. hand — help
  8. spring — a coil
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. kick — in football
  14. hand — in cards
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. spring — the season
  18. bat — the animal
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. spring — of water
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. stem — to come from
  24. fall — to drop

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