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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 · suit · chest · land · patient · pit · net · wave

  1. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. net — after costs
  3. pit — in a race
  4. suit — to fit
  5. chest — of your body
  6. land — to come down
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. land — ground
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. march — the month
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. pit — a hole
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. chest — a box
  15. march — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. land — a country
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. net — for catching
  22. march — the month
  23. net — in sport
  24. suit — clothes

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