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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · march · hide · game · mine · club · present · straw

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. present — a gift
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. game — wild animals
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. present — there
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. march — the month
  13. mine — for digging
  14. club — for dancing
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. march — music
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. march — the month
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. present — the time now
  22. game — a match
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. club — a group

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