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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: patient · row · branch · bound · race · shower · march · field

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. field — farmland
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bound — tied together
  6. march — the month
  7. bound — certain
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. race — the arms race
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. march — the month
  13. branch — a division
  14. race — humankind
  15. row — to paddle
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. race — a contest
  19. shower — to wash
  20. field — a subject
  21. row — a line
  22. field — for sport
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. shower — rain

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