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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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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: patient · spring · perch · bound · court · stem · pound · snap

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. spring — a coil
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — for sport
  5. stem — to come from
  6. court — of law
  7. bound — tied together
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. pound — a weight
  16. spring — the season
  17. snap — to click
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. bound — certain
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. spring — of water
  22. bound — obliged
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. perch — for a bird

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