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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. land — a country
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. bear — the animal
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. land — ground
  7. drill — a practice
  8. drill — army training
  9. ground — a position
  10. shower — rain
  11. field — a subject
  12. pop — music
  13. shower — to wash
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. ground — crushed
  17. ground — the earth
  18. pop — soda
  19. bear — the animal
  20. field — for sport
  21. pop — to visit
  22. drill — the tool
  23. field — farmland
  24. land — to come down

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