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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: cabinet · band · patient · chest · cap · mark · chair · mine

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. cap — a lid
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. cap — of ice
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. band — a music group
  10. chest — a box
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. mark — a trace
  13. chest — of your body
  14. mark — a grade
  15. chair — a leader
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. mine — for digging
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a ring
  24. cabinet — ministers

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