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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
468
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: chair · patient · tear · rush · spring · kid · land · trunk

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. kid — child
  4. spring — of water
  5. tear — to rip
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. tear — from crying
  8. kid — to tease
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. land — ground
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. land — to come down
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. rush — hurry
  20. chair — a leader
  21. tear — from crying
  22. land — a country
  23. spring — a coil
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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