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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: chest · club · wind · roll · patient · rule

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. wind — moving air
  3. rule — a law
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. club — a group
  6. club — for dancing
  7. club — for golf
  8. roll — a list
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. chest — of your body
  14. roll — a cake
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. chest — a box
  17. rule — government
  18. patient — a sick person

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