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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: patient · spring · drill · row · field · bark · wax · branch

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. drill — the tool
  3. spring — the season
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wax — to grow
  6. field — farmland
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — of water
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. bark — to shout
  11. row — to paddle
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. field — a subject
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. drill — a practice
  21. field — for sport
  22. drill — army training
  23. row — a line
  24. bark — of a tree

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