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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: charge · stock · bulb · last · patient · band · present · cold

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. present — a gift
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. present — the time now
  6. last — final
  7. cold — not warm
  8. stock — goods
  9. stock — shares
  10. bulb — for light
  11. last — finally
  12. present — there
  13. last — to go on
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. cold — an illness
  16. charge — a price
  17. charge — electricity
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. charge — in control
  20. bulb — for light
  21. band — a ring
  22. band — a music group
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bulb — of a plant

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