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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: patient · wave · jam · land · file · rash · bark · spring

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  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. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. file — a tool
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. spring — the season
  7. file — a document
  8. spring — of water
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. land — to come down
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. bark — to shout
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rash — a series
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. land — a country
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. land — ground
  22. file — a line of people
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  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