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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: can · bark · wind · cold · field · pitcher · patient · fan

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. bark — to shout
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. wind — moving air
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. can — a tin
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. field — for sport
  16. cold — an illness
  17. field — farmland
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wind — moving air
  21. can — to be able to
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. field — a subject

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