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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 · bore · vault · kick · bat · patient · mine · roll

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. roll — a cake
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. vault — a safe
  8. bat — the animal
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bore — to drill
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bore — to tire
  16. roll — a list
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. kick — in football

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