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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: mate · present · straw · fan · march · patient · chest · court

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. march — music
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. march — the month
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. court — for sport
  8. chest — a box
  9. present — a gift
  10. mate — a friend
  11. march — the month
  12. present — there
  13. mate — a partner
  14. court — of a king
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. present — the time now
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. chest — of your body
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. chest — of your body
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. court — of law
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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