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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: race · kick · patient · fork · leaves · scale · spring · game

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. game — wild animals
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. race — a contest
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. game — a match
  13. race — humankind
  14. spring — the season
  15. race — the arms race
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. kick — in football
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — in music
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. spring — a coil
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. fork — in a road

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