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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
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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: snap · patient · face · season · field · saw · shower · degree

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. season — of the year
  4. face — part of the head
  5. field — a subject
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. face — to point toward
  8. degree — from a university
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. saw — the tool
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. field — for sport
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. snap — to click
  15. shower — to wash
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — an amount
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. saw — the tool
  22. season — in sport
  23. face — to confront
  24. shower — rain

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