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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: kid · patient · pound · race · wind · ball · band · hide

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. race — a contest
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. band — a music group
  6. race — humankind
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. band — a ring
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. ball — a great time
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — to tease
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. wind — moving air
  18. race — the arms race
  19. wind — moving air
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. pound — a weight
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. band — a rubber band

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