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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 120 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: straw · spring · patient · field · hand · last · fine · face

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. face — to confront
  5. last — finally
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. spring — of water
  9. face — part of the head
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. spring — the season
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. last — final
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. face — to point toward
  18. fine — all right
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — for sport
  21. spring — a coil
  22. last — to go on
  23. hand — help
  24. fine — high quality

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