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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.

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: spell · field · bark · wound · land · patient · degree · fork

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. spell — letters
  3. degree — an amount
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. spell — magic
  6. field — farmland
  7. wound — an injury
  8. spell — a short time
  9. land — a country
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. degree — from a university
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. land — ground
  15. land — to come down
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wound — an injury
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bark — to shout
  21. field — a subject
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. fork — in a road

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