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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: spring · patient · lash · tube · track · game · bark · content

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — of water
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. game — wild animals
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. track — a path
  10. game — a match
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. content — happy
  13. content — the amount
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. track — to keep track
  16. spring — a coil
  17. track — a song
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. bark — to shout
  20. tube — a container
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. content — videos and posts

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