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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
468
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: patient · cold · kid · fine · pop · lash · branch · fan

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. fine — all right
  3. fine — high quality
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. branch — a division
  10. pop — to visit
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. kid — to tease
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. cold — not warm
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. pop — music
  23. pop — soda
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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