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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. cap — of ice
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. field — a subject
  9. cold — an illness
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. bark — to shout
  15. dip — to sink
  16. cap — a hat
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. cap — a lid
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. field — farmland
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. wake — a trail

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