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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: club · rash · calf · patient · cold · wound · chip · row

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — for dancing
  5. rash — a series
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. cold — not warm
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. chip — for betting
  11. chip — to eat
  12. club — a group
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. wound — an injury
  17. row — a line
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. wound — an injury
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. rash — hasty
  24. cold — the Cold War

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