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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: chest · cue · perch · patient · stock · clip · hide · chair

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — a video
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cue — a signal
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. chest — of your body
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. chest — a box
  17. cue — a hint
  18. stock — shares
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. stock — goods
  22. cue — for pool
  23. chair — a leader
  24. hide — to keep secret

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