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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. march — the month
  4. rest — a break
  5. march — music
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — from a university
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. degree — an amount
  10. rest — what's left
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cold — an illness
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. rash — a series
  20. march — the month
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bear — the animal

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