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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 · degree · drill · tube · land · race · mouse

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. tube — the underground
  4. race — a contest
  5. march — the month
  6. degree — from a university
  7. race — the arms race
  8. degree — an amount
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. degree — temperature
  12. land — to come down
  13. march — music
  14. land — a country
  15. tube — a container
  16. drill — the tool
  17. land — ground
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. drill — a practice
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. march — the month
  22. race — humankind
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. drill — army training

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