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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. rule — a law
  3. rule — government
  4. date — the fruit
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. swing — to play on
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. chest — of your body
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. swing — in golf
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — a subject
  16. prune — to trim
  17. field — for sport
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. chest — a box
  20. prune — to trim
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. chest — of your body
  24. swing — music

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