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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 116 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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. field — a subject
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. field — farmland
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. bat — the animal
  11. object — an aim
  12. pass — a permit
  13. kick — in football
  14. object — to protest
  15. object — a thing
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. field — for sport
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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