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

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. bound — certain
  3. land — a country
  4. bound — tied together
  5. rock — a stone
  6. field — for sport
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. land — ground
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. field — a subject
  14. cold — not warm
  15. land — to come down
  16. plane — a tool
  17. dip — to sink
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. bound — obliged
  20. cold — an illness
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. field — farmland

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