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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: row · patient · chair · fork · can · bat · tear · press

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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. can — a tin
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. press — to push
  9. press — a publisher
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. can — a tin
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. press — newspapers
  17. tear — from crying
  18. can — to be able to
  19. row — to paddle
  20. fork — in a road
  21. row — a line
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. tear — from crying

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