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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 · cold · chip · cue · cabinet · degree · toast · chair

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. chair — a leader
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. chip — to eat
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. toast — bread
  8. cue — a hint
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. degree — from a university
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. cold — not warm
  17. chip — for betting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cue — for pool
  23. cue — a signal
  24. cold — an illness

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