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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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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: bat · race · chair · patient · stock · court

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. race — a contest
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. court — of a king
  6. race — the arms race
  7. court — of law
  8. stock — goods
  9. stock — shares
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. chair — a leader
  15. court — for sport
  16. race — humankind
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. bat — the animal

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