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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 120 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: march · patient · last · bowl · field · chest · ruler · chip

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. chip — for betting
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. last — finally
  8. march — music
  9. chest — a box
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. field — farmland
  12. last — to go on
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. march — the month
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. field — a subject
  20. march — the month
  21. chip — to eat
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. last — final
  24. field — for sport

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