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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: ball · charge · tear · bay · ground · field · patient · file

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. charge — electricity
  6. field — for sport
  7. ground — a position
  8. field — farmland
  9. ball — a dance
  10. file — a tool
  11. ground — crushed
  12. tear — from crying
  13. charge — in control
  14. file — a document
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. charge — a price
  17. ground — the earth
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. tear — to rip
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. file — a line of people
  22. tear — from crying
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. field — a subject

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