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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: court · row · mine · cap · stem · patient · spring · chair

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. spring — the season
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. row — a line
  8. cap — of ice
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. cap — a hat
  12. spring — of water
  13. row — to paddle
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — for sport
  16. cap — a lid
  17. spring — a coil
  18. court — of law
  19. stem — to come from
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. chair — a leader
  22. mine — for digging
  23. stem — of a plant
  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