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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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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: rash · pound · deal · band · patient · cap · cold · field

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. cold — not warm
  3. band — a ring
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. band — a music group
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. field — for sport
  9. pound — a weight
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rash — hasty
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. cap — a lid
  16. deal — to handle
  17. rash — a series
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. cap — of ice
  20. field — farmland
  21. cap — a hat
  22. cold — an illness
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. field — a subject

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