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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: pitcher · cell · bowl · patient · field · wound · chest · band

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. cell — a phone
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a ring
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. field — a subject
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. wound — an injury
  12. band — a music group
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. chest — a box
  18. cell — in biology
  19. field — for sport
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. pitcher — a jug

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