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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: patient · court · rest · cold · bark · arm · current · snap

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. current — happening now
  4. cold — an illness
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. current — electric
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. court — of a king
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. rest — what's left
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. rest — what's left
  15. court — of law
  16. snap — to click
  17. bark — to shout
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. court — for sport
  20. cold — not warm
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. rest — a break

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