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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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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: foot · jam · patient · kid · spring · bear · field · pound

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  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. spring — of water
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — child
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. bear — the animal
  7. pound — a weight
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. spring — the season
  12. bear — the animal
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. field — farmland
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. foot — a measure
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. field — for sport
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. pound — for dogs
  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