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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  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. cap — a hat
  2. field — farmland
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. land — ground
  7. game — a match
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. deal — to handle
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. cap — a lid
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. land — to come down
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. field — for sport
  17. game — wild animals
  18. wake — a trail
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. land — a country
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. field — a subject
  23. cap — of ice
  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