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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. ground — a position
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. field — for sport
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. shower — rain
  8. ground — crushed
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. rush — hurry
  12. content — happy
  13. field — a subject
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. ground — the earth
  20. saw — the tool
  21. shower — to wash
  22. content — the amount
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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