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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 120 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 · last · wave · mark · hand · branch · court · tear

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. last — final
  4. last — to go on
  5. tear — to rip
  6. court — of a king
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. mark — a trace
  10. last — finally
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. court — for sport
  15. tear — from crying
  16. branch — a division
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. mark — a grade
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — help
  24. branch — of a bank

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