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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. fall — the season
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. fall — to drop
  6. field — a subject
  7. saw — the tool
  8. cold — not warm
  9. season — of the year
  10. field — for sport
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. saw — the tool
  17. field — farmland
  18. cold — an illness
  19. fall — to drop
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. plane — a tool
  23. season — in sport
  24. patient — a sick person

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