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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: tear · chair · chest · patient · arm · race · land · ruler

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tear — from crying
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. land — ground
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. land — to come down
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. tear — from crying
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. chair — a leader
  19. race — humankind
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. race — the arms race
  22. land — a country
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. chest — a box

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