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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: bat · chest · game · ground · rush · board · field · patient

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. board — a committee
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. board — to get on
  5. ground — crushed
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. chest — a box
  12. game — a match
  13. bat — the animal
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — a subject
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. ground — the earth
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. field — for sport
  22. ground — a position
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. rush — hurry

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