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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 · tear · race · branch · spring · chair · squash · can

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. chair — a leader
  4. can — to be able to
  5. tear — from crying
  6. branch — a division
  7. race — a contest
  8. squash — to crush
  9. spring — a coil
  10. race — humankind
  11. tear — to rip
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. squash — the sport
  14. spring — of water
  15. tear — from crying
  16. can — a tin
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. race — the arms race
  19. can — a tin
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. spring — the season
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. branch — of a bank

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