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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: band · mine · cold · patient · mate · pitcher · pitch · fan

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mate — a friend
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. mate — a partner
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. band — a ring
  12. mine — for digging
  13. cold — an illness
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. band — a music group
  17. mate — to breed
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. pitch — completely

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