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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: drill · patient · club · cold · race · chair

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. club — for golf
  3. race — the arms race
  4. drill — a practice
  5. club — a group
  6. drill — army training
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. club — for dancing
  13. race — a contest
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. race — humankind

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