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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 120 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: season · bass · patient · race · file · root · chest · bear

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. race — humankind
  3. bass — low music
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. bear — the animal
  6. race — the arms race
  7. file — a line of people
  8. season — of the year
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bass — the fish
  11. file — a tool
  12. chest — of your body
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. root — of a word
  15. season — in sport
  16. root — the cause
  17. root — of a plant
  18. chest — a box
  19. race — a contest
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. file — a document
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bear — to put up with

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