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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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Word bank
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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. can — a tin
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. field — farmland
  5. game — wild animals
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. saw — the tool
  9. can — a tin
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. saw — the tool
  12. game — a match
  13. can — to be able to
  14. bark — to shout
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. season — in sport
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. ball — a great time
  20. ball — a dance
  21. field — for sport
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. season — of the year
  24. field — a subject

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