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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 120 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  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. patient — a sick person
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bass — the fish
  4. cell — in biology
  5. vault — a safe
  6. swing — to play on
  7. field — for sport
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — music
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. field — farmland
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. field — a subject
  15. cell — a phone
  16. bass — low music
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — to tease
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bass — the instrument
  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