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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: rock · face · land · patient · tube · ground · march · chest

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. tube — the underground
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. rock — a stone
  5. chest — of your body
  6. face — to confront
  7. land — a country
  8. rock — music
  9. land — ground
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. tube — a container
  12. chest — of your body
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — a position
  15. face — to point toward
  16. chest — a box
  17. march — the month
  18. ground — the earth
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. land — to come down

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