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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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. field — a subject
  5. game — a match
  6. bat — the animal
  7. track — a song
  8. clip — a video
  9. chip — to eat
  10. game — wild animals
  11. track — a path
  12. suit — to fit
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. clip — to cut
  16. field — farmland
  17. suit — in cards
  18. field — for sport
  19. clip — for paper
  20. track — to keep track
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. chip — for betting
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. suit — clothes

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