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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: wake · court · cell · mine · ground · patient · land · bark

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — of law
  6. mine — for digging
  7. land — ground
  8. court — for sport
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — a phone
  12. ground — a position
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. ground — the earth
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — a trail
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. bark — to shout
  21. land — a country
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. land — to come down
  24. ground — crushed

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