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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 116 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 · hand · mine · lash · field · degree · ball · bore

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. bore — to drill
  4. field — farmland
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — for digging
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. hand — help
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. field — for sport
  12. ball — a great time
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — temperature
  18. field — a subject
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. degree — an amount
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. ball — a dance
  23. hand — in cards
  24. patient — a sick person

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