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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: bat · fan · cold · field · patient · board · date · ruler

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. field — farmland
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. board — a committee
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — the fruit
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. bat — the animal
  14. cold — not warm
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. board — to get on
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ruler — for measuring

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