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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: stick · patient · march · date · chair · key · straw · swing

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. key — in music
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. date — the fruit
  11. key — the most important part
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. swing — to play on
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. swing — music
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. march — the month
  21. key — for a lock
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. swing — in golf
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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