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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: land · row · wind · patient · chip · craft · perch · file

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. chip — for betting
  3. land — a country
  4. file — a tool
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. perch — the fish
  7. wind — moving air
  8. file — a document
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. file — a line of people
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. wind — moving air
  13. craft — boats
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. land — ground
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. craft — a skill
  18. land — to come down
  19. row — to paddle
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. chip — to eat
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. row — a line
  24. wind — to turn a key

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