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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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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: swing · ground · wound · field · bear · patient · kid · pitch

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. ground — the earth
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. field — farmland
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. kid — child
  7. wound — an injury
  8. field — for sport
  9. pitch — completely
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. ground — crushed
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. swing — music
  16. bear — the animal
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. swing — in golf
  20. field — a subject
  21. ground — a position
  22. bear — the animal
  23. kid — to tease
  24. patient — a sick person

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