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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: chest · mate · cold · roll · bound · pass · prune · patient

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. roll — a list
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mate — a friend
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cold — not warm
  9. roll — a cake
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mate — a partner
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — to trim
  15. chest — a box
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. bound — obliged
  20. mate — to breed
  21. pass — a permit
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. bound — certain
  24. bound — tied together

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