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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: hand · patient · game · cold · calf · content · squash · nail

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. content — happy
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. hand — help
  9. cold — not warm
  10. game — a match
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. content — the amount
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. hand — in cards
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. squash — the sport
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. game — wild animals
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. squash — to crush
  24. cold — an illness

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