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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: chip · patient · lean · scale · cold · stand · season · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. last — to go on
  4. scale — size or range
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. last — finally
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lean — to bend
  10. chip — for betting
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. cold — not warm
  13. season — of the year
  14. season — in sport
  15. lean — thin
  16. stand — to bear
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. chip — to eat
  24. scale — in 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