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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. fall — to drop
  3. field — for sport
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. field — a subject
  6. fine — all right
  7. fall — to drop
  8. root — of a word
  9. fine — high quality
  10. fall — the season
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. root — of a plant
  15. stock — shares
  16. root — the cause
  17. stock — goods
  18. stock — a soup base

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