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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: patient · hide · chest · wound · nail · chair · face · mine

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. face — to confront
  3. chair — a leader
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. mine — for digging
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. wound — an injury
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. face — to point toward
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. face — part of the head
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. wound — an injury
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. chest — of your body
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. chair — a professorship

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