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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. shower — to wash
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. pass — a permit
  6. field — for sport
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. swing — to play on
  9. swing — music
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. cell — a phone
  15. wound — an injury
  16. swing — in golf
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — farmland
  21. shower — rain
  22. cell — in biology
  23. wound — an injury
  24. nail — for a hammer

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