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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. cell — a phone
  3. bound — obliged
  4. field — farmland
  5. bound — certain
  6. land — a country
  7. bound — tied together
  8. land — ground
  9. mug — a face
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — a trail
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. mug — a cup
  17. cell — in biology
  18. field — a subject
  19. fork — in a road
  20. land — to come down
  21. field — for sport
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. mug — to rob

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