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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. ball — a great time
  3. tear — from crying
  4. file — a tool
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. file — a document
  7. tear — to rip
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — in biology
  14. file — a line of people
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. field — a subject
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. chest — of your body
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cell — a phone
  21. ball — a dance
  22. field — farmland
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. field — for sport

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