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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: march · mate · wound · patient · tear · bowl · spring · sharp

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. march — music
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. spring — the season
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. mate — to breed
  10. sharp — clever
  11. mate — a partner
  12. spring — a coil
  13. tear — to rip
  14. mate — a friend
  15. wound — an injury
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wound — an injury
  20. march — the month
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. march — the month
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. tear — from crying

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