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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. bulb — for light
  4. field — for sport
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. cold — not warm
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — from a university
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cold — an illness
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. bulb — for light
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. object — an aim
  17. pop — soda
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. field — a subject
  20. pop — music
  21. field — farmland
  22. pop — to visit
  23. object — a thing
  24. bulb — of a plant

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