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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: swing · branch · row · spring · date · patient · chair · cabinet

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. swing — music
  4. spring — the season
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. branch — a division
  7. swing — in golf
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — a coil
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. date — the fruit
  12. row — a line
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. chair — a leader
  15. swing — to play on
  16. row — to paddle
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. branch — 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