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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. last — finally
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. march — music
  5. firm — a company
  6. firm — steady
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. last — final
  9. clip — for paper
  10. rash — hasty
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bass — low music
  13. rash — a series
  14. last — to go on
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bass — the fish
  17. swing — in golf
  18. march — the month
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. firm — decided
  21. clip — a video
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — to play on
  24. march — the month

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