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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. race — a contest
  3. net — in sport
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. march — music
  6. net — for catching
  7. court — of law
  8. race — humankind
  9. drill — army training
  10. race — the arms race
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. net — after costs
  13. court — for sport
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. drill — the tool
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. court — of a king
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. drill — a practice
  24. fan — to cool the air

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