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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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. stock — shares
  8. rock — a stone
  9. stock — goods
  10. scale — in music
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. scale — size or range
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. tube — the underground
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. rock — music
  17. bear — the animal
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. cold — not warm
  20. field — for sport
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bear — the animal
  24. tube — a container

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