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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. chest — of your body
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. bulb — for light
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. field — farmland
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — letters
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bulb — for light
  16. wind — moving air
  17. spell — a short time
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. field — for sport
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. field — a subject
  24. chest — a box

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