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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: last · stand · patient · field · wind · chair

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. field — a subject
  6. stand — to bear
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. last — to go on
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. last — final
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. field — for sport
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. wind — moving air
  18. field — farmland

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