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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: root · kid · row · patient · branch · game · band · cold

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. cold — an illness
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. game — a match
  5. kid — to tease
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. cold — not warm
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. band — a music group
  11. branch — a division
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. root — of a word
  14. row — a line
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. root — of a plant
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. row — to paddle
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. game — wild animals
  22. root — the cause
  23. kid — child
  24. patient — a sick person

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