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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: temple · wind · pitcher · key · patient · chest · cold · roll

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. key — in music
  6. wind — moving air
  7. roll — a list
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. key — the most important part
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cold — not warm
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. key — for a lock
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chest — of your body
  23. roll — a cake
  24. chest — a box

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