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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 · race · fall · drill · court · branch · bass

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. race — a contest
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. race — the arms race
  8. court — of a king
  9. bass — low music
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. bass — the fish
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — army training
  15. fall — to drop
  16. court — for sport
  17. date — the fruit
  18. branch — a division
  19. race — humankind
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. drill — a practice
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — the season

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