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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: drill · patient · kid · straw · chair · foot · cold · leaves

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. kid — to tease
  5. chair — a leader
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. foot — a measure
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. drill — a practice
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. drill — army training
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. cold — not warm
  22. drill — the tool
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. kid — child

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