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

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. march — music
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. squash — the sport
  5. chest — a box
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. season — of the year
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. chest — of your body
  13. squash — to crush
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. season — in sport
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. march — the month
  20. band — a music group
  21. march — the month
  22. chest — of your body
  23. scale — in music
  24. band — a ring

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