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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — the animal
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. row — to paddle
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. lie — to recline
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. pitch — completely
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bore — to drill
  15. degree — an amount
  16. row — a line
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. bore — to tire
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. present — there
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. present — the time now
  24. degree — from a university

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