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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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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: chair · march · patient · clip · bark · race · field · ball

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. field — for sport
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. field — farmland
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. race — a contest
  8. field — a subject
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. chair — a leader
  11. march — music
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. clip — for paper
  15. ball — a dance
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. clip — a video
  18. race — the arms race
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. ball — a great time
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bark — to shout
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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