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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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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 · pit · fine · cold · swing · kid · foot · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. kid — to tease
  3. field — a subject
  4. cold — an illness
  5. field — for sport
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. fine — high quality
  8. pit — in a race
  9. swing — music
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. kid — child
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. foot — a measure
  15. swing — to play on
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. pit — a hole
  20. cold — not warm
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. swing — in golf
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. fine — all right

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