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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.

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: lie · rash · content · cold · bass · row · patient · field

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. row — a line
  3. field — farmland
  4. cold — not warm
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. content — the amount
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — to paddle
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. field — for sport
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. bass — low music
  16. lie — to recline
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. field — a subject
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. bass — the fish
  21. rash — a series
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. content — happy

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