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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 116 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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. wake — a trail
  4. lean — to bend
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. squash — the sport
  10. field — for sport
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. field — a subject
  14. rock — a stone
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. rock — music
  17. cold — not warm
  18. lean — thin
  19. field — farmland
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. squash — to crush
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. cold — an illness

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