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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 ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. sharp — clever
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. degree — temperature
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. root — of a word
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. degree — from a university
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. degree — an amount
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. root — of a plant
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. root — the cause
  24. pitcher — a jug

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