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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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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: bank · patient · track · cold · race · march

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. bank — for money
  3. race — a contest
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. bank — for money
  6. track — to keep track
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. march — the month
  10. bank — of a river
  11. race — humankind
  12. track — a song
  13. cold — not warm
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cold — an illness
  16. march — music
  17. race — the arms race
  18. track — a path

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