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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: spring · chest · patient · band · bark · fork · mate · date

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. chest — of your body
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. fork — in a road
  5. band — a music group
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. chest — of your body
  10. mate — a friend
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. mate — a partner
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bark — to shout
  15. band — a ring
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. chest — a box
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mate — to breed
  24. spring — of water

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