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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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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: patient · wind · pit · shower · branch · lean · mate · field

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  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. field — a subject
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. shower — to wash
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. pit — a hole
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. shower — rain
  12. pit — in a race
  13. lean — thin
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. lean — to bend
  16. mate — a partner
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mate — to breed
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. mate — a friend
  21. field — farmland
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a tree
  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