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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wound · calf · root · file · mine · cold · patient · date

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. date — the fruit
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. mine — for digging
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. wound — an injury
  14. file — a line of people
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. root — of a word
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. file — a document
  19. root — of a plant
  20. cold — not warm
  21. file — a tool
  22. root — the cause
  23. wound — an injury
  24. date — on the calendar

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