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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: patient · temple · bass · land · chip · march · tube · spring

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. march — music
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. spring — the season
  6. bass — low music
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. march — the month
  9. spring — a coil
  10. chip — for betting
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — a container
  15. chip — to eat
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. land — to come down
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. spring — of water
  21. land — a country
  22. march — the month
  23. bass — the fish
  24. bass — the instrument

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