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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — an amount
  3. rush — hurry
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. degree — from a university
  9. current — happening now
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. chest — of your body
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. current — electric
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. chest — of your body
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. chest — a box
  23. sharp — clever
  24. current — of water

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