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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: rush · patient · cold · object · field · mark · band · spell

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — a subject
  4. spell — magic
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. object — to protest
  7. spell — a short time
  8. object — a thing
  9. mark — a grade
  10. rush — hurry
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — not warm
  13. band — a music group
  14. mark — a trace
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. spell — letters
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. field — for sport

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