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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 · fall · land · chair · bore · scale · kid · content

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. fall — to drop
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. bore — to tire
  5. land — to come down
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — size or range
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. kid — child
  10. scale — in music
  11. land — a country
  12. land — ground
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. fall — to drop
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. fall — the season
  19. kid — to tease
  20. content — happy
  21. content — the amount
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bore — to drill
  24. chair — to sit on

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