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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: patient · chip · row · club · race · rash · ground · hand

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. club — for golf
  3. club — for dancing
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. race — the arms race
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. chip — to eat
  9. rash — a series
  10. row — a line
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — a position
  14. hand — help
  15. ground — crushed
  16. race — a contest
  17. chip — for betting
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. race — humankind
  21. rash — hasty
  22. row — to paddle
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. club — a group

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