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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: patient · wax · craft · chair · snap · chest · last · fall

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. craft — boats
  3. snap — to click
  4. fall — to drop
  5. chest — of your body
  6. last — to go on
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. craft — a skill
  10. fall — the season
  11. last — finally
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. chest — a box
  14. chair — a leader
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. wax — to grow
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. last — final
  24. fall — to drop

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