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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 can't ________________ this cold.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. degree — an amount
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. rash — hasty
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. cell — a phone
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. prune — to trim
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. snap — to click
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. date — the fruit
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. cell — in biology
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — from a university
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. rash — a series
  24. prune — to trim

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