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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 116 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: clip · pass · stem · patient · fork · field · lie · straw

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. field — farmland
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. field — for sport
  5. pass — a permit
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. fork — in a road
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. lie — to recline
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. stem — to come from
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — to cut
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. clip — for paper
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. field — a subject

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