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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: chest · mine · staff · patient · net · march · firm · roll

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. mine — for digging
  3. firm — steady
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. chest — of your body
  6. march — the month
  7. net — after costs
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. staff — employees
  10. staff — employees
  11. chest — of your body
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. net — in sport
  15. firm — decided
  16. chest — a box
  17. march — the month
  18. roll — a list
  19. net — for catching
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. roll — a cake
  23. firm — a company
  24. march — music

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