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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — from a university
  4. file — a tool
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. mine — for digging
  7. shower — rain
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. shower — to wash
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. file — a line of people
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. file — a document
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. degree — an amount
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. wound — an injury
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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