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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: bark · spring · track · patient · mate · cold · arm · fall

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. spring — the season
  4. mate — a partner
  5. track — a path
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. mate — a friend
  8. spring — of water
  9. track — a song
  10. fall — the season
  11. spring — a coil
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bark — to shout
  15. track — to keep track
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mate — to breed
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. fall — to drop
  24. arm — part of the body

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