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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. rule — government
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. row — a line
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. band — a ring
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. bark — to shout
  13. rule — a law
  14. game — a match
  15. row — to paddle
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. band — a music group
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bat — the animal
  20. chair — a leader
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. game — wild animals
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. row — a quarrel

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