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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: race · field · date · foot · branch · stem · patient · row

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. foot — a measure
  3. field — a subject
  4. row — a line
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. race — humankind
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — a division
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. race — a contest
  19. date — the fruit
  20. row — to paddle
  21. stem — to come from
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. race — the arms race
  24. foot — the bottom

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