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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. ground — crushed
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. chip — to eat
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. ground — the earth
  11. band — a ring
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chip — for betting
  14. band — a music group
  15. field — for sport
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. tear — to rip
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. tear — from crying
  20. wound — an injury
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. tear — from crying
  23. ground — a position
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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