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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. rock — a stone
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. rash — a series
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. rock — music
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rash — hasty
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. stem — to come from
  14. field — a subject
  15. bat — the animal
  16. field — farmland
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. rock — to move gently

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