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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. pass — a permit
  4. game — a match
  5. field — farmland
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. game — wild animals
  11. shower — rain
  12. tear — to rip
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. content — the amount
  15. tear — from crying
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. field — a subject
  18. content — happy
  19. shower — to wash
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. field — for sport

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