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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. chest — of your body
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. bound — tied together
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. chest — a box
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. bound — obliged
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. degree — an amount
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bound — certain
  17. tear — from crying
  18. pit — a hole
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. degree — temperature
  21. tear — to rip
  22. date — the fruit
  23. tear — from crying
  24. pit — in a race

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