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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 120 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: patient · fall · saw · kid · band · can · cold · plane

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. can — to be able to
  3. saw — the tool
  4. can — a tin
  5. band — a music group
  6. plane — a tool
  7. kid — to tease
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. can — a tin
  10. band — a ring
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. saw — the tool
  13. kid — child
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. cold — not warm
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. fall — to drop
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cold — an illness
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. fall — to drop
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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