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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: patient · wind · last · chip · march · cap · swing · scale

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. march — music
  3. scale — size or range
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. last — final
  6. cap — of ice
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cap — a lid
  10. chip — for betting
  11. swing — in golf
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. march — the month
  14. cap — a hat
  15. chip — to eat
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. scale — in music
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — to play on
  21. last — to go on
  22. march — the month
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. wind — moving air

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