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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. field — a subject
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. present — there
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. ground — a position
  8. field — farmland
  9. present — the time now
  10. land — a country
  11. ground — crushed
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. land — ground
  14. chair — a leader
  15. ground — the earth
  16. game — wild animals
  17. field — for sport
  18. present — a gift
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. game — a match
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. nail — for a hammer

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