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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. degree — from a university
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. degree — an amount
  6. mug — a face
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. kick — in football
  10. date — the fruit
  11. court — for sport
  12. rest — a break
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — what's left
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. court — of law
  18. degree — temperature
  19. mug — a cup
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. saw — the tool
  23. court — of a king
  24. mug — to rob

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