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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: ball · cold · band · patient · bark · bear

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bear — the animal
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bear — the animal
  7. band — a music group
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. bark — to shout
  10. ball — a great time
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ball — a dance
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. patient — a sick person

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