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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: bear · bound · straw · pop · patient · chair · land · wind

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. pop — to visit
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bound — tied together
  5. bear — the animal
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. land — ground
  8. bound — obliged
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. pop — soda
  11. chair — a leader
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bear — the animal
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. land — a country
  21. land — to come down
  22. bound — certain
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. pop — music

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