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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: chair · sharp · wind · pitcher · march · patient · rash · rush

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — hasty
  6. chair — a leader
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. march — music
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. wind — moving air
  14. sharp — clever
  15. rush — hurry
  16. march — the month
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. rash — a series
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. wind — moving air
  24. march — the month

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