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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: tear · patient · ground · ball · chair · toast · bat · field

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. ground — a position
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. field — for sport
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. ball — a dance
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. bat — the animal
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. field — a subject
  14. tear — from crying
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. ball — a great time
  17. chair — a leader
  18. tear — from crying
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. field — farmland
  21. toast — bread
  22. ground — crushed
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. ground — the earth

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