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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  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. hide — to keep secret
  2. last — to go on
  3. degree — from a university
  4. ball — a great time
  5. degree — an amount
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. last — final
  8. degree — temperature
  9. chair — a leader
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. ball — a dance
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. last — finally
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a professorship
  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