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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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Word bank
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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. field — for sport
  5. kid — to tease
  6. court — of a king
  7. field — farmland
  8. rash — a series
  9. court — of law
  10. pitch — completely
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. cell — in biology
  16. court — for sport
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. kid — child
  19. rash — hasty
  20. chest — a box
  21. chest — of your body
  22. field — a subject
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cell — a phone

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