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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. degree — an amount
  3. chest — of your body
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. current — happening now
  6. chest — a box
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. squash — to crush
  10. cap — a hat
  11. current — electric
  12. squash — the sport
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. degree — from a university
  16. current — of water
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. cap — a lid
  19. degree — temperature
  20. cap — of ice
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. chest — of your body
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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