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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
468
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 · pitcher · game · lash · cue · field · tear · ball

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cue — a signal
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. ball — a dance
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. tear — from crying
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. field — a subject
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. field — farmland
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cue — a hint
  19. game — wild animals
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. field — for sport
  23. cue — for pool
  24. game — a match

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