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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. chair — a leader
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. staff — employees
  7. field — a subject
  8. sharp — clever
  9. staff — employees
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. rash — hasty
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. dip — to sink
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. field — farmland
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. rash — a series
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. staff — a stick

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