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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: patient · race · march · fork · shower · band

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  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. patient — a sick person
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. fork — in a road
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a ring
  10. shower — to wash
  11. race — a contest
  12. march — the month
  13. shower — rain
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. race — the arms race
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. band — a rubber band
  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