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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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Word bank
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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. march — the month
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bear — the animal
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. degree — from a university
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. last — final
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. last — to go on
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. last — finally
  17. ball — a dance
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. chair — a leader
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. bear — the animal

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