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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: cold · field · pitch · patient · craft · foot · date · ball

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. ball — a great time
  7. date — the fruit
  8. field — a subject
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. craft — a skill
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. cold — not warm
  14. foot — a measure
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. pitch — completely
  17. field — for sport
  18. ball — a dance
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. craft — boats
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. patient — a sick person

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