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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bark · stem · field · swing · race · patient

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. 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. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bark — to shout
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. swing — in golf
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. race — the arms race
  9. stem — to come from
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. race — a contest
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — music
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. race — humankind
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. 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