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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. lean — to bend
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. row — a line
  6. row — to paddle
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. hand — help
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. field — farmland
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. swing — music
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. swing — to play on
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. field — a subject
  19. hand — in cards
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. lean — thin
  23. field — for sport
  24. wake — a trail

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