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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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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: toast · kid · cap · chair · spring · arm · race · patient

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  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. spring — the season
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. kid — to tease
  4. race — a contest
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. spring — of water
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. spring — a coil
  10. toast — bread
  11. kid — child
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. cap — a lid
  15. chair — a leader
  16. race — humankind
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. race — the arms race
  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