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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 · press · object · cold · field · drill · dip · bulb

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. drill — army training
  5. cold — not warm
  6. press — to push
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bulb — for light
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. field — farmland
  11. drill — the tool
  12. press — a publisher
  13. drill — a practice
  14. object — to protest
  15. dip — to sink
  16. bulb — for light
  17. object — a thing
  18. object — an aim
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. press — newspapers
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. dip — to dunk

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