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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. spring — a coil
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. bass — the fish
  5. pass — a permit
  6. court — of a king
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. court — for sport
  9. bass — low music
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. file — a document
  12. stand — to bear
  13. spring — of water
  14. file — a tool
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — for sport
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. spring — the season
  24. court — of law

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