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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: chair · patient · cell · game · club · row · season · band

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. row — to paddle
  5. club — for golf
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cell — a phone
  10. band — a ring
  11. game — wild animals
  12. club — a group
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. game — a match
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — in biology
  17. season — of the year
  18. band — a music group
  19. chair — a leader
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. row — a line
  22. season — in sport
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. patient — a sick person

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