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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: kid · can · cold · patient · bulb · chest · roll · game

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. can — a tin
  4. kid — to tease
  5. roll — a cake
  6. bulb — for light
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. roll — a list
  10. cold — an illness
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. chest — a box
  13. cold — not warm
  14. chest — of your body
  15. game — a match
  16. can — to be able to
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. game — wild animals
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. kid — child
  22. bulb — for light
  23. chest — of your body
  24. can — a tin

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