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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: land · chest · chair · field · patient · hand · bay · ball

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. land — to come down
  4. ball — a dance
  5. hand — help
  6. chest — of your body
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. field — a subject
  9. ball — a great time
  10. land — ground
  11. chest — a box
  12. field — for sport
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. land — a country
  22. chair — a leader
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. chair — to sit on

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