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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 116 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: degree · wound · patient · chair · field · swing · prune · march

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. march — music
  3. field — a subject
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. wound — an injury
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. wound — an injury
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. march — the month
  12. swing — to play on
  13. chair — a leader
  14. field — farmland
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. march — the month
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. degree — from a university
  19. degree — an amount
  20. swing — in golf
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. degree — temperature
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. field — for sport

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