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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 120 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: bowl · bore · field · patient · pitcher · bat · wind · court

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. field — a subject
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. field — farmland
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. court — of a king
  14. field — for sport
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. court — of law
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. court — for sport
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. wind — moving air

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