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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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Word bank
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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: patient · racket · cell · hide · date · field

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. field — for sport
  4. cell — in biology
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. cell — a phone
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. field — a subject
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. date — the fruit
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. field — farmland
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. hide — animal skin

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