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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. field — for sport
  5. content — the amount
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. wind — moving air
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. field — a subject
  14. pitch — completely
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. kid — to tease
  18. content — happy
  19. wind — moving air
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. hide — animal skin

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