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

Word bank: cell · patient · race · chest · march · nail

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. cell — a phone
  3. race — a contest
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. cell — in biology
  6. chest — of your body
  7. race — the arms race
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. race — humankind
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. march — music
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. march — the month
  14. chest — of your body
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. chest — a box

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