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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. pop — soda
  4. degree — an amount
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. rush — hurry
  9. degree — from a university
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pop — music
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. plane — a tool
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. degree — temperature
  20. field — farmland
  21. cold — an illness
  22. rock — a stone
  23. rock — music
  24. pop — to visit

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