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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. ground — crushed
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. fine — all right
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. degree — an amount
  9. fine — high quality
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. current — electric
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. rash — a series
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a music group
  16. ground — a position
  17. ground — the earth
  18. rash — hasty
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. degree — temperature
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. current — of water
  24. current — happening now

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