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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. prune — to trim
  5. press — a publisher
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. pitch — completely
  9. field — a subject
  10. band — a music group
  11. band — a ring
  12. firm — steady
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. field — farmland
  15. degree — an amount
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. firm — decided
  19. degree — from a university
  20. firm — a company
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. press — to push
  23. press — newspapers
  24. field — for sport

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