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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. spring — the season
  3. last — finally
  4. last — final
  5. field — for sport
  6. staff — employees
  7. degree — from a university
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — temperature
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. scale — in music
  13. staff — a stick
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. staff — employees
  16. spring — a coil
  17. last — to go on
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. field — farmland
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. scale — size or range
  24. spring — of water

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