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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: suit · cold · cell · kid · patient · cap · fan · bat

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cell — a phone
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. suit — in cards
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cell — in biology
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. suit — clothes
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. suit — to fit
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — to tease
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. kid — child
  24. cold — an illness

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