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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: kick · shower · field · bass · key · race · patient · chest

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. race — the arms race
  3. key — the most important part
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. bass — low music
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. key — in music
  8. chest — of your body
  9. shower — rain
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. chest — a box
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. field — for sport
  14. kick — in football
  15. shower — to wash
  16. key — for a lock
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. chest — of your body
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. bass — the fish
  21. race — humankind
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — farmland
  24. race — a contest

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