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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 · fan · stand · sharp · straw · last · pound · track

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. last — final
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. last — finally
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. track — a path
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. track — to keep track
  11. stand — to bear
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. last — to go on
  14. pound — a weight
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. sharp — clever
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. track — a song
  24. sharp — with an edge

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