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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. present — a gift
  3. field — a subject
  4. wind — moving air
  5. field — farmland
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. sharp — clever
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. content — happy
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stand — to bear
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. content — the amount
  17. present — the time now
  18. field — for sport
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. present — there
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. kick — in football
  24. sharp — exactly

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