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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 · race · bound · prune · bat · field · bore · wind

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. field — for sport
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. race — the arms race
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. bore — to tire
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. bore — to drill
  13. race — humankind
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bound — obliged
  17. field — farmland
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bound — certain
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. field — a subject
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. race — a contest

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