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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. tear — from crying
  6. degree — an amount
  7. race — humankind
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. plane — a tool
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. tear — to rip
  17. degree — temperature
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. bat — the animal
  22. tear — from crying
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. coach — a trainer

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