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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: club · cold · pop · game · straw · date · jam · patient

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  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. patient — a sick person
  3. pop — soda
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. pop — to visit
  10. club — a group
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. pop — music
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — the fruit
  17. game — a match
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. club — for dancing
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. club — for golf
  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