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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. spell — letters
  5. field — a subject
  6. tear — to rip
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. field — farmland
  10. press — a publisher
  11. spell — a short time
  12. press — to push
  13. tear — from crying
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. press — newspapers
  16. ground — a position
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed
  19. last — final
  20. last — to go on
  21. tear — from crying
  22. spell — magic
  23. last — finally
  24. field — for sport

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