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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. degree — an amount
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. degree — from a university
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. cue — for pool
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. snap — to click
  15. degree — temperature
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. cue — a signal

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