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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. staff — employees
  3. degree — from a university
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. saw — the tool
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. degree — temperature
  9. clip — for paper
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. staff — employees
  12. clip — a video
  13. degree — an amount
  14. board — a committee
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. clip — to cut
  19. board — to get on
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. saw — the tool

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