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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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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: cold · temple · kid · mine · bound · patient · snap · chip

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. bound — certain
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. chip — for betting
  5. mine — for digging
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. kid — child
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. snap — to click
  14. bound — obliged
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. chip — to eat
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. kid — to tease

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