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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. field — for sport
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. chest — of your body
  5. wound — an injury
  6. chest — a box
  7. prune — to trim
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. field — farmland
  10. chest — of your body
  11. game — wild animals
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. field — a subject
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. game — a match
  22. prune — to trim
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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