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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. hand — help
  5. row — to paddle
  6. march — the month
  7. chip — for betting
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a document
  10. row — a line
  11. race — humankind
  12. file — a tool
  13. race — the arms race
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. chip — to eat
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. chair — a leader
  20. race — a contest
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — part of the body

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