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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 120 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: patient · chair · coach · vault · wax · arm · cold · content

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. cold — not warm
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. vault — a safe
  10. wax — to grow
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cold — an illness
  15. chair — a leader
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. content — happy
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. content — the amount

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