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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: plane · patient · perch · cold · wave · swing · squash · branch

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. cold — not warm
  7. swing — in golf
  8. squash — the sport
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. plane — a tool
  14. branch — a division
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. perch — the fish
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. swing — to play on
  21. squash — to crush
  22. cold — an illness
  23. swing — music
  24. plane — an aircraft

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