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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 116 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: object · patient · cold · band · shower · cap · wind · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. object — a thing
  4. cap — of ice
  5. object — to protest
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cap — a lid
  10. shower — to wash
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cold — an illness
  14. shower — rain
  15. band — a music group
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. object — an aim
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. cap — a hat
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. cold — not warm
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. band — a ring
  24. band — a rubber band

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