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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: chair · patient · wind · roll · march · ruler · last · tear

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. march — the month
  5. roll — a cake
  6. last — final
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. march — music
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. chair — a leader
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. last — to go on
  19. march — the month
  20. roll — a list
  21. wind — moving air
  22. tear — to rip
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. chair — a professorship

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