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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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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: firm · race · mate · track · chest · march · patient · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. mate — a friend
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. mate — a partner
  6. track — to keep track
  7. march — music
  8. firm — decided
  9. chest — a box
  10. firm — steady
  11. race — humankind
  12. march — the month
  13. mate — to breed
  14. track — a path
  15. race — the arms race
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. race — a contest
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. track — a song
  23. march — the month
  24. firm — a company

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