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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. land — a country
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. degree — an amount
  5. land — ground
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. degree — temperature
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. bank — for money
  13. rash — hasty
  14. scale — in music
  15. field — farmland
  16. degree — from a university
  17. land — to come down
  18. rash — a series
  19. bank — of a river
  20. scale — size or range
  21. bank — for money
  22. field — a subject
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. field — for sport

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