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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 116 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rush — hurry
  3. wake — a trail
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. fall — the season
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. scale — in music
  12. fall — to drop
  13. degree — temperature
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. degree — from a university
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. fall — to drop
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. scale — size or range

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