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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 · face · safe · cell · land · kid · dip · field

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. face — to confront
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. field — for sport
  6. land — ground
  7. cell — a phone
  8. land — to come down
  9. field — a subject
  10. face — part of the head
  11. cell — in biology
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. field — farmland
  16. kid — child
  17. land — a country
  18. kid — to tease
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. face — to point toward
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. dip — to sink
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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