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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 120 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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. degree — from a university
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. degree — an amount
  7. scale — size or range
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. chair — a leader
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. spell — letters
  14. sharp — clever
  15. spell — magic
  16. degree — temperature
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. spell — a short time
  24. scale — in music

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