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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 116 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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. wind — moving air
  3. branch — a division
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. degree — temperature
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wound — an injury
  11. degree — from a university
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. capital — money
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. row — a line
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. degree — an amount
  23. capital — a city
  24. wound — an injury

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