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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cell — a phone
  4. fine — all right
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. spring — of water
  9. bound — obliged
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. field — farmland
  12. bound — tied together
  13. field — for sport
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. cell — in biology
  17. object — to protest
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. object — an aim
  20. field — a subject
  21. spring — the season
  22. bound — certain
  23. fine — high quality
  24. object — a thing

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