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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: rock · patient · bowl · clip · race · march

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. race — a contest
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. clip — a video
  6. rock — a stone
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. march — the month
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. march — the month
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — to cut
  13. march — music
  14. rock — music
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. race — the arms race
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. race — humankind

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