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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. content — happy
  4. cell — in biology
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. present — a gift
  7. degree — from a university
  8. race — the arms race
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. degree — temperature
  11. race — a contest
  12. present — the time now
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. present — there
  15. degree — an amount
  16. cell — a phone
  17. race — humankind
  18. content — the amount

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