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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. last — to go on
  4. game — a match
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. field — a subject
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. field — for sport
  11. last — final
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. bound — tied together
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. game — wild animals
  16. last — finally
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — of water
  20. field — farmland
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. bound — certain
  24. bound — obliged

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