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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: wake · patient · pop · march · bore · date · wind · tube

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. pop — music
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. bore — to drill
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bore — to tire
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. march — the month
  11. march — music
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. pop — to visit
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wind — moving air
  18. march — the month
  19. tube — a container
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. tube — the underground
  22. date — the fruit
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. pop — soda

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