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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. shower — rain
  4. field — for sport
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. hand — help
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — to wash
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. file — a tool
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. file — a line of people
  19. hand — in cards
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. field — farmland
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. file — a document

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