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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 · pitcher · patient · row · mouse · wind · chest · coach

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. march — the month
  5. row — to paddle
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. wind — moving air
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. march — music
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. wind — moving air
  15. chest — a box
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. row — a line
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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