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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: perch · firm · wake · spell · race · patient · capital · chair

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. chair — a leader
  4. firm — steady
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. firm — a company
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. race — humankind
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. spell — letters
  11. perch — the fish
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. spell — magic
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — money
  17. race — the arms race
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. race — a contest
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wake — a trail
  23. spell — a short time
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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