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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. march — the month
  3. degree — from a university
  4. march — music
  5. bound — obliged
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. march — the month
  9. bound — tied together
  10. pound — a weight
  11. degree — an amount
  12. last — final
  13. bound — certain
  14. last — finally
  15. degree — temperature
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. rash — hasty
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. rash — a series
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. last — to go on
  22. date — the fruit
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. patient — a sick person

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