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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: patient · cold · cell · bound · kid · stick

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. cell — a phone
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cold — an illness
  7. kid — child
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. cell — in biology
  10. bound — certain
  11. kid — to tease
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. bound — obliged
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bound — tied together
  18. cold — not warm

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