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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: cabinet · sharp · field · pitch · patient · fall · stick · fork

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. fall — the season
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. field — for sport
  6. sharp — clever
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. fall — to drop
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. fork — in a road
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. fall — to drop
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. pitch — completely
  21. field — farmland
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. field — a subject
  24. cabinet — ministers

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