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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: patient · saw · sharp · last · temple · kid · net · field

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. saw — the tool
  3. last — to go on
  4. net — in sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. field — farmland
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. sharp — clever
  12. last — final
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. kid — to tease
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. field — for sport
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. net — for catching
  20. last — finally
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. kid — child
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. saw — the tool

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