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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. land — ground
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. field — for sport
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. degree — from a university
  7. land — to come down
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. land — a country
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. field — farmland
  15. file — a line of people
  16. field — a subject
  17. file — a document
  18. chair — a leader
  19. file — a tool
  20. charge — a price
  21. degree — an amount
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. charge — in control
  24. charge — electricity

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