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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  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 — farmland
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. kick — in football
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. row — a line
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. file — a tool
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. file — a line of people
  17. field — a subject
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. perch — the fish
  20. row — to paddle
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. field — for sport
  23. wax — to grow
  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