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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  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. land — to come down
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. shower — to wash
  4. land — a country
  5. file — a line of people
  6. shower — rain
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — an amount
  11. land — ground
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. march — music
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. kick — in football
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. degree — from a university
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a document
  23. safe — out of danger
  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