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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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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: march · patient · saw · pit · stock · chest · sharp · roll

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. march — the month
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. roll — a list
  6. chest — of your body
  7. saw — the tool
  8. stock — shares
  9. saw — the tool
  10. march — music
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. chest — a box
  14. march — the month
  15. stock — goods
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. pit — a hole
  18. pit — in a race
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. roll — a cake
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — clever
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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