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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: straw · face · cabinet · spring · patient · pop · season · file

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  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. pop — soda
  2. season — in sport
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. face — part of the head
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. face — to confront
  7. file — a document
  8. spring — of water
  9. file — a tool
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. pop — to visit
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — a coil
  14. pop — music
  15. face — to point toward
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. season — of the year
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. file — a line of people
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. straw — a straw man
  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