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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: season · fall · chest · cell · patient · ball · bear · field

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bear — the animal
  3. ball — a dance
  4. field — farmland
  5. fall — to drop
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. chest — of your body
  9. season — of the year
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. chest — a box
  12. fall — the season
  13. cell — a phone
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cell — in biology
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. field — for sport
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. bear — the animal
  20. field — a subject
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. season — in sport
  24. ball — a great time

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