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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: drill · patient · bat · pit · field · sharp · lash · rule

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. drill — the tool
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. rule — government
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. drill — a practice
  10. rule — a law
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. bat — the animal
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. pit — a hole
  19. pit — in a race
  20. drill — army training
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. field — for sport

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