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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.

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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: perch · mine · staff · patient · sharp · coach · field · bound

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — for sport
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bound — obliged
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. perch — the fish
  11. bound — certain
  12. staff — a stick
  13. bound — tied together
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. mine — for digging
  16. field — farmland
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. sharp — clever
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. staff — employees
  24. sharp — exactly

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