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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. craft — a skill
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. game — a match
  11. current — of water
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. wake — a trail
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. craft — boats
  19. game — wild animals
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. current — happening now
  22. cold — an illness
  23. current — electric
  24. band — a music group

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