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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. ball — a great time
  3. degree — from a university
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. lean — to bend
  6. lean — thin
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. capital — a city
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. band — a music group
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — an amount
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. kick — in football
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. band — a ring
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. plane — a tool
  19. capital — money
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. ball — a dance
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. capital — a big letter

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