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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: patient · date · march · bass · net · racket · field · capital

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  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. field — for sport
  2. net — in sport
  3. field — a subject
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. net — for catching
  6. march — music
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. march — the month
  13. bass — low music
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. bass — the fish
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. field — farmland
  20. net — after costs
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. march — the month
  23. date — the fruit
  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