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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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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: patient · game · race · wind · cabinet · object · band · chair

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. game — a match
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. game — wild animals
  6. race — the arms race
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. chair — a leader
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. wind — moving air
  13. band — a music group
  14. object — to protest
  15. race — humankind
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. object — an aim
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. object — a thing
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. race — a contest

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