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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
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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: board · bore · kid · track · spring · rule · patient · field

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. track — to keep track
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bore — to tire
  5. track — a song
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. field — farmland
  8. bore — to drill
  9. spring — the season
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. track — a path
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. board — a committee
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. spring — of water
  19. field — for sport
  20. spring — a coil
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. rule — government
  23. field — a subject
  24. rule — a law

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