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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. field — for sport
  3. cold — an illness
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. content — happy
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. content — the amount
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. chip — for betting
  14. chip — to eat
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. field — a subject
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. cold — not warm
  23. field — farmland
  24. patient — a sick person

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