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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. current — electric
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. hand — help
  7. press — to push
  8. land — to come down
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. land — a country
  14. hand — in cards
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — size or range
  17. current — of water
  18. press — newspapers
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. press — a publisher
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. degree — an amount
  24. current — happening now

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