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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. wind — moving air
  5. degree — temperature
  6. band — a ring
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. swing — in golf
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. stand — to bear
  12. degree — an amount
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. face — to point toward
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. swing — music
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a music group
  19. snap — to click
  20. swing — to play on
  21. face — to confront
  22. degree — from a university
  23. face — part of the head
  24. wind — moving air

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