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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: bark · squash · patient · deal · date · field · hide · bound

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. field — for sport
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. squash — to crush
  6. squash — the sport
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. bound — certain
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. bound — obliged
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — a subject
  20. bark — to shout
  21. deal — to handle
  22. bound — tied together
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. date — the fruit

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