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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. wind — moving air
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. drill — a practice
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. field — for sport
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. field — a subject
  13. drill — army training
  14. present — there
  15. wind — moving air
  16. drill — the tool
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. content — happy
  19. hand — in cards
  20. present — the time now
  21. field — farmland
  22. present — a gift
  23. fine — all right
  24. content — the amount

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