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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 120 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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. ground — crushed
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. spring — a coil
  5. sharp — clever
  6. ground — a position
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. staff — employees
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. degree — an amount
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. degree — from a university
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. bat — the animal
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. spring — the season
  22. staff — employees
  23. ground — the earth
  24. spring — 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