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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: pop · patient · ruler · mine · cold · season · stick · lean

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. lean — to bend
  3. season — of the year
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. lean — thin
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pop — music
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. pop — soda
  17. cold — not warm
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mine — for digging
  21. pop — to visit
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. season — in sport
  24. ruler — for measuring

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