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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: content · lean · patient · chair · vault · clip · squash · swing

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. chair — a leader
  3. vault — a safe
  4. swing — in golf
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. content — happy
  8. lean — to bend
  9. swing — to play on
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. squash — to crush
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. swing — music
  14. clip — for paper
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. squash — the sport
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. clip — to cut
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. clip — a video
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. content — the 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