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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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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: patient · game · hide · land · field · track · staff · degree

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — for sport
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. land — a country
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. staff — employees
  7. land — to come down
  8. staff — employees
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. degree — an amount
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. degree — from a university
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. field — a subject
  16. land — ground
  17. track — a song
  18. game — a match
  19. game — wild animals
  20. track — to keep track
  21. staff — a stick
  22. degree — temperature
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. track — a path

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