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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: cold · roll · patient · ground · board · rash · field · key

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. rash — hasty
  3. key — for a lock
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. field — for sport
  7. key — in music
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. board — a committee
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. field — farmland
  16. roll — a list
  17. key — the most important part
  18. roll — a cake
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. ground — the earth
  21. board — to get on
  22. field — a subject
  23. ground — a position
  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