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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.

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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: ground · fork · patient · field · face · row · season · bass

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. bass — low music
  3. row — a line
  4. face — to point toward
  5. field — farmland
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. fork — in a road
  9. field — a subject
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. bass — the fish
  13. season — of the year
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. ground — the earth
  16. field — for sport
  17. row — to paddle
  18. season — in sport
  19. ground — a position
  20. face — part of the head
  21. ground — crushed
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. face — to confront

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