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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: cold · patient · kick · rush · swing · pitcher · fall · branch

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  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. kick — in football
  2. fall — to drop
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. swing — to play on
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. swing — in golf
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. fall — the season
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. branch — a division
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. fall — to drop
  19. swing — music
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. rush — hurry
  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