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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 120 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. degree — from a university
  7. cold — an illness
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cue — for pool
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. spring — of water
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bark — to shout
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. cue — a signal
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. spring — the season
  23. cue — a hint
  24. patient — a sick person

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