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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: mug · degree · hand · tear · patient · tube · rest · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. rest — a break
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. tube — a container
  6. hand — in cards
  7. mug — a face
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. hand — help
  13. rest — what's left
  14. tear — from crying
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. rest — what's left
  18. mug — to rob
  19. degree — from a university
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. tube — the underground
  22. mug — a cup
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an amount

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