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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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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: cap · patient · cold · bowl · jam · last · game · board

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. board — a committee
  7. cold — an illness
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. game — wild animals
  12. cap — of ice
  13. game — a match
  14. cap — a lid
  15. last — final
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. last — to go on
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. cold — not warm
  23. board — to get on
  24. last — finally

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