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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 · rush · cabinet · squash · chair · degree · hand · patient

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — hurry
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. march — the month
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — help
  11. march — the month
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. chair — a leader
  14. degree — temperature
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. degree — an amount
  17. squash — the sport
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. squash — to crush
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. degree — from a university

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