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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 · season · chip · stem · field · hand · pitch · file

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. field — farmland
  3. file — a document
  4. hand — help
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. pitch — completely
  11. field — for sport
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. chip — to eat
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. file — a tool
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. hand — in cards
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. file — a line of people
  20. season — of the year
  21. field — a subject
  22. season — in sport
  23. stem — to come from
  24. chip — for betting

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