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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. ground — the earth
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. mine — for digging
  6. tear — from crying
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. degree — from a university
  11. ground — crushed
  12. cell — in biology
  13. ground — a position
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. rash — a series
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. cell — a phone
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mine — an explosive

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