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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 116 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: bear · hand · patient · band · current · board · cold · bulb

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. hand — help
  2. current — happening now
  3. board — to get on
  4. band — a ring
  5. current — of water
  6. cold — an illness
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. bear — the animal
  9. board — a committee
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. current — electric
  16. bear — the animal
  17. band — a music group
  18. hand — in cards
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. bulb — for light
  23. hand — part of the body
  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