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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — temperature
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. scale — in music
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cell — in biology
  13. court — for sport
  14. band — a music group
  15. scale — size or range
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. court — of a king
  18. rush — hurry
  19. cell — a phone
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. bore — to tire
  22. court — of law
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. bore — to drill

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