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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.

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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: mine · land · patient · track · current · bat · wave · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. current — of water
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. bat — the animal
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. current — electric
  9. land — ground
  10. current — happening now
  11. mine — for digging
  12. track — to keep track
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. track — a path
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. land — to come down
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. land — a country
  23. track — a song
  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