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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: wind · bowl · march · mate · wound · patient · band · file

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. file — a tool
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. march — the month
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. march — the month
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. wind — moving air
  11. band — a music group
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wound — an injury
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. band — a ring
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. march — music
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. mate — to breed
  22. file — a document
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. mate — a partner

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