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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 120 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. scale — in music
  4. field — for sport
  5. bank — for money
  6. scale — size or range
  7. club — a group
  8. land — ground
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cold — an illness
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. cold — not warm
  14. club — for dancing
  15. bank — of a river
  16. bank — for money
  17. land — to come down
  18. field — farmland
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. field — a subject
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. land — a country
  24. calf — of the leg

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