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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: branch · spring · last · field · rash · patient · foot · hand

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. field — a subject
  3. branch — a division
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. last — final
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. spring — a coil
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. spring — of water
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. hand — in cards
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. foot — a measure
  16. hand — help
  17. last — finally
  18. field — farmland
  19. rash — a series
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. rash — hasty
  23. field — for sport
  24. spring — the season

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