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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: club · band · patient · wave · pitch · mate · bat · chair

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — a friend
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. mate — to breed
  6. club — for dancing
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. pitch — completely
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. band — a ring
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. chair — a leader
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bat — the animal
  21. band — a music group
  22. club — a group
  23. club — for golf
  24. 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