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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: fall · cell · row · mine · coach · stem · spring · patient

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. spring — of water
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. fall — to drop
  7. spring — the season
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. row — to paddle
  11. spring — a coil
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. row — a line
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. fall — the season
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. cell — a phone
  23. fall — to drop
  24. stem — to come from

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