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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 120 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: cap · game · net · hand · patient · key · stem · spring

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. spring — of water
  3. net — for catching
  4. net — in sport
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. key — for a lock
  7. stem — to come from
  8. cap — a lid
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. hand — help
  11. game — wild animals
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. hand — in cards
  14. key — the most important part
  15. cap — a hat
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. net — after costs
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. key — in music
  24. cap — of ice

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