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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 · firm · straw · rush · season · spring · last · row

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. rush — hurry
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. season — in sport
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. firm — a company
  9. spring — of water
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. season — of the year
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. spring — a coil
  15. last — to go on
  16. firm — decided
  17. last — final
  18. row — a line
  19. firm — steady
  20. last — finally
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. row — to paddle
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. patient — a sick person

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