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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 · toast · prune · track · wind · patient · staff · mine

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. mine — for digging
  5. track — a song
  6. prune — to trim
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. track — a path
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. chair — a leader
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. staff — employees
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wind — moving air
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. staff — a stick
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. track — to keep track
  23. toast — bread
  24. staff — employees

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