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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: bass · patient · mouse · calf · tear · wind · cold · file

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cold — not warm
  5. file — a document
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. tear — to rip
  11. file — a tool
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. file — a line of people
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bass — low music
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. cold — an illness
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. wind — moving air

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