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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: saw · band · patient · tube · cold · bowl · charge · row

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. tube — a container
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. charge — electricity
  12. tube — the underground
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — a line
  16. charge — a price
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. saw — the tool
  19. cold — not warm
  20. band — a music group
  21. saw — the tool
  22. row — to paddle
  23. charge — in control
  24. band — a rubber band

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