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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 120 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: bound · spring · patient · wound · race · stem · cell · land

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. stem — to come from
  3. spring — of water
  4. race — the arms race
  5. land — to come down
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. wound — an injury
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. spring — the season
  12. race — a contest
  13. bound — tied together
  14. race — humankind
  15. bound — certain
  16. land — ground
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. wound — an injury
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bound — obliged
  23. cell — in biology
  24. land — a country

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