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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 120 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. current — electric
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. field — farmland
  5. fall — the season
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. row — to paddle
  9. field — a subject
  10. current — of water
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cold — not warm
  14. rest — a break
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. row — a line
  18. rest — what's left
  19. current — happening now
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. field — for sport
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — to drop

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