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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 · wake · rash · hand · land · coach · dip

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. land — a country
  4. land — to come down
  5. wake — a trail
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. rash — hasty
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. hand — in cards
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. dip — to sink
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. spring — of water
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. spring — a coil
  17. land — ground
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. rash — a series
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. spring — the season

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