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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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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. band — a ring
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — for sport
  5. fall — the season
  6. drill — army training
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. fall — to drop
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. drill — the tool
  13. cold — an illness
  14. hand — help
  15. band — a music group
  16. cold — not warm
  17. hand — in cards
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. field — a subject
  21. fall — to drop
  22. drill — a practice
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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