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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. spring — a coil
  4. hand — help
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. degree — temperature
  7. drill — a practice
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bear — the animal
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. degree — an amount
  15. current — of water
  16. hand — in cards
  17. drill — the tool
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bear — the animal
  20. current — happening now
  21. drill — army training
  22. spring — the season
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. current — electric

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