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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. degree — an amount
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. rest — a break
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bound — obliged
  11. kid — to tease
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bound — certain
  15. chest — a box
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. perch — the fish
  18. chest — of your body
  19. spell — magic
  20. bound — tied together
  21. rest — what's left
  22. spell — a short time
  23. kid — child
  24. spell — letters

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