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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
468
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: hand · chest · leaves · spring · mine · arm · patient · swing

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. spring — of water
  7. chest — a box
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mine — for digging
  14. swing — music
  15. swing — to play on
  16. hand — help
  17. spring — a coil
  18. chest — of your body
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. swing — in golf
  21. chest — of your body
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. leaves — to go away

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