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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 116 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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. degree — temperature
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. degree — an amount
  5. land — to come down
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. land — a country
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. cold — not warm
  11. degree — from a university
  12. land — ground
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. perch — the fish
  17. cold — an illness
  18. patient — a sick person

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