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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: date · straw · chip · patient · hand · bass · land · pitcher

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. hand — in cards
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. land — a country
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. bass — the fish
  10. land — ground
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. chip — for betting
  18. bass — low music
  19. chip — to eat
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. date — the fruit
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  24. pitcher — a jug

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