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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: swing · shower · patient · chair · wake · stick

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. swing — to play on
  5. shower — to wash
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. swing — in golf
  8. wake — a trail
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. shower — rain
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. swing — music

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