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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: patient · ball · cue · temple · bound · cold · bat · straw

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. cue — a hint
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. bound — certain
  6. cue — a signal
  7. ball — a great time
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bound — obliged
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. ball — a dance
  18. cue — for pool
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. cold — not warm
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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