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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tear · chair · patient · land · arm · field · rash · mine

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. chair — a leader
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. land — a country
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — to rip
  8. rash — a series
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — a subject
  14. tear — from crying
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — ground
  18. rash — hasty
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. field — for sport
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. patient — a sick person

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