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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: wind · band · patient · object · kid · bore · file · board

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. board — to get on
  3. board — a committee
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. file — a document
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — to tease
  8. bore — to tire
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. object — an aim
  11. file — a tool
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. file — a line of people
  14. band — a music group
  15. object — to protest
  16. object — a thing
  17. wind — moving air
  18. kid — child
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. band — a ring
  22. bore — to drill
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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