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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: drill · kid · bank · patient · march · pop · cold · deal

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. kid — to tease
  3. march — the month
  4. deal — to handle
  5. pop — soda
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. bank — of a river
  10. kid — child
  11. pop — music
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. bank — for money
  14. drill — the tool
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. march — music
  17. drill — a practice
  18. bank — for money
  19. march — the month
  20. cold — an illness
  21. drill — army training
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. pop — to visit

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