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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. field — a subject
  4. degree — an amount
  5. spell — a short time
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. squash — the sport
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. staff — employees
  11. staff — employees
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. tube — a container
  16. spell — letters
  17. degree — from a university
  18. spell — magic
  19. squash — to crush
  20. tube — the underground
  21. field — farmland
  22. degree — temperature
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. field — for sport

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