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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
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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: patient · root · chair · land · track · game · perch · cold

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. root — of a plant
  4. land — to come down
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. land — a country
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cold — not warm
  9. track — a path
  10. game — wild animals
  11. root — of a word
  12. root — the cause
  13. track — a song
  14. track — to keep track
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. game — a match
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. perch — the fish
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. land — ground

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