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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. field — farmland
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. drill — army training
  6. drill — a practice
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. capital — money
  9. spring — a coil
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. rash — a series
  12. capital — a city
  13. field — for sport
  14. tube — a container
  15. rash — hasty
  16. spring — of water
  17. bark — to shout
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. drill — the tool
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. field — a subject
  23. tube — the underground
  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