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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: row · march · drill · date · season · coach · field · patient

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. date — the fruit
  5. season — of the year
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. march — the month
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. field — a subject
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. row — a line
  14. drill — the tool
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. drill — army training
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. row — to paddle
  22. drill — a practice
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. field — for sport

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