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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: patient · hide · bass · branch · wound · land · roll · cold

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. roll — a cake
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. cold — an illness
  9. branch — a division
  10. wound — an injury
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. cold — not warm
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bass — low music
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. land — ground
  23. bass — the fish
  24. roll — a list

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