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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: craft · patient · band · race · court · fall · march · date

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. race — a contest
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. race — humankind
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. fall — to drop
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. craft — a skill
  10. court — of a king
  11. band — a music group
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. march — the month
  14. craft — boats
  15. march — music
  16. date — the fruit
  17. march — the month
  18. race — the arms race
  19. court — for sport
  20. band — a ring
  21. court — of law
  22. fall — the season
  23. fall — to drop
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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