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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. hand — in cards
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. cold — an illness
  5. degree — an amount
  6. capital — a city
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. cold — not warm
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. hand — help
  16. scale — size or range
  17. bound — tied together
  18. fork — in a road
  19. capital — money
  20. bound — obliged
  21. scale — in music
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. bound — certain

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