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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · patient · cell · chair · bulb · rash · hand · bat

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. chair — a leader
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. bulb — for light
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. bat — the animal
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. cell — a phone
  13. rash — a series
  14. rash — hasty
  15. hand — help
  16. chest — of your body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. cell — in biology
  20. bulb — for light
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — a box
  24. chair — a professorship

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