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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: court · patient · hand · straw · band · roll · wind · present

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. court — of a king
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. band — a music group
  7. present — the time now
  8. roll — a cake
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hand — in cards
  11. present — there
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. court — of law
  14. present — a gift
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. hand — help
  17. court — for sport
  18. band — a ring
  19. roll — a list
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. wind — moving air
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. roll — on a roll

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