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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.

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: hand · season · scale · track · patient · bark · content · spring

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. hand — in cards
  3. spring — of water
  4. track — to keep track
  5. spring — the season
  6. season — in sport
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. content — the amount
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. hand — help
  13. content — happy
  14. scale — size or range
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. scale — in music
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. track — a path
  21. track — a song
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. spring — a coil

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