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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 116 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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. wind — moving air
  3. degree — an amount
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. fine — all right
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. drill — army training
  8. wind — moving air
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. staff — employees
  11. degree — from a university
  12. fine — high quality
  13. staff — employees
  14. snap — to click
  15. staff — a stick
  16. bat — the animal
  17. drill — a practice
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. drill — the tool

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