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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 · mine · root · court · ground · chest · patient · tear

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. ground — a position
  5. root — of a plant
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. court — of law
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. chest — of your body
  11. tear — from crying
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. chair — a leader
  14. court — of a king
  15. ground — the earth
  16. root — of a word
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. mine — for digging
  19. root — the cause
  20. court — for sport
  21. tear — to rip
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. ground — crushed
  24. mine — belonging to me

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