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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 · cold · row · ground · suit · chair · drill · wind

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  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. drill — a practice
  2. suit — clothes
  3. wind — moving air
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. ground — a position
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. suit — in cards
  9. drill — the tool
  10. drill — army training
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. cold — not warm
  14. suit — to fit
  15. row — a line
  16. row — to paddle
  17. ground — crushed
  18. wind — moving air
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. chair — a leader
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. ground — the earth
  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