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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: staff · patient · current · ball · dip · chest · drill · field

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. staff — employees
  3. field — for sport
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. current — of water
  6. drill — army training
  7. drill — the tool
  8. staff — employees
  9. staff — a stick
  10. chest — of your body
  11. field — farmland
  12. dip — to sink
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. ball — a great time
  15. current — happening now
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. field — a subject
  19. chest — of your body
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. chest — a box
  23. drill — a practice
  24. current — electric

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