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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: chair · degree · swing · patient · hand · cell

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. hand — help
  3. degree — an amount
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. degree — temperature
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. hand — in cards
  8. cell — a phone
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. swing — to play on
  11. chair — a leader
  12. degree — from a university
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. swing — music
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. swing — in golf
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. cell — in biology

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