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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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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: stick · patient · row · bat · cabinet · hide · chair · straw

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — to paddle
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. row — a line
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. chair — a leader

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