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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 120 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: wound · fall · chair · season · cue · patient · face · capital

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. cue — a signal
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — money
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — to drop
  7. season — of the year
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. wound — an injury
  12. face — to point toward
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cue — a hint
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. fall — the season
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. cue — for pool
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. face — to confront
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. season — in sport
  23. chair — a leader
  24. face — part of the head

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