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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 116 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. scale — in music
  4. firm — a company
  5. firm — decided
  6. rash — hasty
  7. field — farmland
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — in cards
  10. field — for sport
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. sharp — clever
  13. scale — size or range
  14. field — a subject
  15. rash — a series
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. firm — steady
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. row — a line
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. row — to paddle
  24. scale — for weighing

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