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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: cold · field · swing · stem · content · rule · spell · patient

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. spell — a short time
  5. content — happy
  6. rule — government
  7. swing — music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. swing — in golf
  10. content — the amount
  11. field — a subject
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — letters
  14. swing — to play on
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — for sport
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. rule — a law
  24. stem — to come from

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