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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: patient · straw · hide · kid · chair · rest

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. rest — what's left
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. kid — to tease
  12. rest — a break
  13. rest — what's left
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. kid — child
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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