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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: arm · court · patient · bass · season · chest · march · spring

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. spring — of water
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. spring — the season
  5. march — the month
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. chest — a box
  8. court — of law
  9. bass — low music
  10. season — of the year
  11. chest — of your body
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. march — the month
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bass — the fish
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. march — music
  24. spring — a coil

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