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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: sharp · patient · bark · clip · wax · bowl · field · wound

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. clip — a video
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. wax — to grow
  11. clip — to cut
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. field — for sport
  24. bark — to shout

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