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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. object — a thing
  4. degree — temperature
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. row — a line
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. object — an aim
  9. row — to paddle
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. key — the most important part
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — for digging
  15. sharp — clever
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. key — for a lock
  18. degree — from a university
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. degree — an amount
  23. key — in music
  24. trunk — of a tree

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