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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. fall — the season
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. fall — to drop
  5. spell — letters
  6. pit — in a race
  7. spell — a short time
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. field — for sport
  10. cell — in biology
  11. stock — shares
  12. field — a subject
  13. spell — magic
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. cell — a phone
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. field — farmland
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. pit — a hole
  21. fall — to drop
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. stock — goods
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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