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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 116 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: hand · degree · march · mine · season · field · wave · patient

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. march — the month
  6. season — of the year
  7. field — a subject
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. mine — for digging
  11. hand — help
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. degree — from a university
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. march — the month
  16. hand — in cards
  17. degree — an amount
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — farmland
  20. march — music
  21. degree — temperature
  22. season — in sport
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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