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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: rest · mine · degree · patient · bear · fall · cabinet · spring

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. fall — to drop
  3. rest — a break
  4. bear — the animal
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. fall — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. rest — what's left
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. spring — a coil
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. bear — the animal
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. mine — for digging
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — from a university
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — the season
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. degree — an amount

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