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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: pitcher · bass · wax · patient · spring · rock · present · cold

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. spring — of water
  3. rock — a stone
  4. bass — low music
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. spring — the season
  7. rock — music
  8. present — a gift
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. present — the time now
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. wax — to grow
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. spring — a coil
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. bass — the fish

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