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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 116 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. tear — from crying
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. ground — a position
  5. degree — temperature
  6. tear — to rip
  7. file — a line of people
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. file — a tool
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. land — to come down
  13. stock — shares
  14. degree — from a university
  15. land — ground
  16. row — to paddle
  17. ground — the earth
  18. tear — from crying
  19. stock — goods
  20. land — a country
  21. degree — an amount
  22. ground — crushed
  23. file — a document
  24. row — a line

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