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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. shower — to wash
  3. object — a thing
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. ground — the earth
  7. mine — for digging
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. ground — a position
  10. object — to protest
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. shower — rain
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. wind — moving air
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. degree — temperature
  20. branch — a division
  21. object — an aim
  22. ground — crushed
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — from a university

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