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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 120 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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. field — a subject
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. cold — an illness
  8. field — farmland
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. bass — the fish
  12. swing — music
  13. swing — to play on
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. field — for sport
  16. swing — in golf
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bass — low music
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bark — to shout

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