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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 116 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: drill · cold · patient · hand · pop · file · march · present

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. present — the time now
  3. drill — a practice
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. march — the month
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. pop — music
  8. drill — army training
  9. march — the month
  10. march — music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. drill — the tool
  13. file — a tool
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. file — a line of people
  17. present — a gift
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pop — soda
  20. present — there
  21. file — a document
  22. cold — an illness
  23. hand — help
  24. cold — not warm

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