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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: bore · rule · bound · land · chair · spring · mate · patient

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — a leader
  4. bore — to tire
  5. bore — to drill
  6. spring — the season
  7. mate — to breed
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. land — to come down
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. land — ground
  12. land — a country
  13. mate — a friend
  14. mate — a partner
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — a law
  17. bound — tied together
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — of water
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. bound — obliged
  23. bound — certain
  24. rule — to rule out

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