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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. track — a path
  6. track — a song
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. branch — a division
  9. capital — a city
  10. swing — to play on
  11. bass — low music
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. chair — a leader
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. capital — money
  17. track — to keep track
  18. swing — in golf
  19. bass — the fish
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. swing — music
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. bass — the instrument

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