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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.

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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: cold · band · wake · lie · bowl · file · season · patient

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. band — a music group
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. file — a document
  10. cold — not warm
  11. lie — to recline
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. file — a tool
  14. season — in sport
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. band — a ring
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. season — of the year
  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