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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: bank · patient · shower · spring · bat · row · chip · band

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bank — of a river
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. shower — rain
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. spring — of water
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — the animal
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. shower — to wash
  11. row — to paddle
  12. band — a music group
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. chip — for betting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. row — a line
  17. bank — for money
  18. band — a ring
  19. chip — to eat
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. spring — the season
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bank — for money
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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