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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. swing — in golf
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. rest — what's left
  6. file — a line of people
  7. spell — a short time
  8. swing — music
  9. rest — a break
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. swing — to play on
  12. file — a tool
  13. staff — a stick
  14. rest — what's left
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — magic
  17. staff — employees
  18. degree — an amount
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. staff — employees
  21. file — a document
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. degree — temperature

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