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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 · bound · cold · chest · coach · fan · pass · patient

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bound — certain
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. cap — of ice
  7. chest — of your body
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. chest — of your body
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. cap — a lid
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pass — a permit
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cold — not warm
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. chest — a box
  19. bound — tied together
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. bound — obliged
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. cold — an illness

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