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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: rush · squash · patient · bark · last · stand · spring · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. spring — the season
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. content — the amount
  9. last — final
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — finally
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. squash — to crush
  18. rush — hurry
  19. squash — the sport
  20. bark — to shout
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — of water
  23. stand — to bear
  24. rush — a thrill

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