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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 120 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: trunk · dip · patient · hand · staff · lean · field · scale

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. field — farmland
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. lean — thin
  6. staff — employees
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. hand — help
  9. field — for sport
  10. staff — a stick
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. hand — in cards
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. scale — size or range
  16. scale — in music
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. dip — to sink
  19. staff — employees
  20. field — a subject
  21. lean — to bend
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. trunk — of a car

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