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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 120 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
468
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: season · pitcher · game · patient · field · kid · pound · racket

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. pound — a weight
  4. field — a subject
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. field — farmland
  9. season — in sport
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. game — a match
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. season — of the year
  16. field — for sport
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. game — wild animals
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. kid — child
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. pound — for dogs

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