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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: capital · field · content · march · rule · patient · race · chest

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. chest — of your body
  3. content — happy
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. field — for sport
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rule — government
  13. chest — a box
  14. field — a subject
  15. content — the amount
  16. chest — of your body
  17. race — a contest
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. race — humankind
  20. capital — a city
  21. field — farmland
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. march — the month
  24. rule — a law

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