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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: last · game · patient · march · field · key · mouse · face

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. key — the most important part
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. last — to go on
  9. key — for a lock
  10. game — wild animals
  11. face — to point toward
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. march — music
  15. key — in music
  16. field — farmland
  17. game — a match
  18. march — the month
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. face — part of the head
  23. face — to confront
  24. patient — a sick person

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