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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: wound · firm · trunk · spring · field · patient · saw · bat

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. saw — the tool
  4. spring — a coil
  5. field — farmland
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. field — for sport
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. field — a subject
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. wound — an injury
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. firm — a company
  17. bat — the animal
  18. spring — of water
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. spring — the season
  21. saw — the tool
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. firm — steady
  24. wound — an injury

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