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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: bass · patient · fork · date · kid · pitch · squash · field

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. kid — child
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. pitch — completely
  6. fork — in a road
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. bass — low music
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. squash — the sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. kid — to tease
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. date — the fruit
  22. field — farmland
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. squash — to crush

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