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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. staff — employees
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. degree — an amount
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. degree — from a university
  11. cold — an illness
  12. deal — to handle
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. perch — the fish
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. staff — employees
  19. degree — temperature
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. plane — a tool
  23. staff — a stick
  24. deal — a big deal

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