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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 · last · content · lean · row · prune · chair · wind

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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. content — videos and posts
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. prune — to trim
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. wind — moving air
  9. lean — to bend
  10. wind — moving air
  11. content — the amount
  12. lean — thin
  13. row — a line
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. last — final
  16. last — finally
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. content — happy
  19. last — to go on
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. prune — to trim
  24. row — to paddle

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