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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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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 · race · cap · board · content · patient · wound · wind

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. race — humankind
  6. cap — of ice
  7. wound — an injury
  8. content — the amount
  9. march — the month
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — a contest
  12. march — the month
  13. cap — a lid
  14. board — to get on
  15. wound — an injury
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. wind — moving air
  18. march — music
  19. cap — a hat
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. board — a committee
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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