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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. kid — to tease
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. file — a document
  5. field — farmland
  6. file — a line of people
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. game — wild animals
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. field — for sport
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. game — a match
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. kid — child
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. sharp — clever
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. file — a tool

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