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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. key — the most important part
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. key — in music
  6. row — a line
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. degree — an amount
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. row — to paddle
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — temperature
  16. spell — letters
  17. kid — to tease
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. spell — a short time
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. key — for a lock
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. spell — magic

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