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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: patient · fine · cold · land · kick · bank · pound · wound

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. land — to come down
  3. fine — all right
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bank — of a river
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. fine — high quality
  9. wound — an injury
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cold — an illness
  12. land — ground
  13. bank — for money
  14. bank — for money
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. pound — a weight
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. kick — in football
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. cold — not warm
  23. land — a country
  24. kick — with a leg

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