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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: patient · tube · field · bore · ground · saw · sharp · bark

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. ground — a position
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. field — a subject
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. bore — to tire
  13. field — for sport
  14. tube — a container
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. bark — to shout
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. saw — the tool
  23. field — farmland
  24. tube — the underground

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