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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. game — a match
  6. court — of a king
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. squash — to crush
  9. staff — employees
  10. court — for sport
  11. staff — a stick
  12. court — of law
  13. stock — shares
  14. game — wild animals
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. mine — for digging
  17. degree — an amount
  18. squash — the sport
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stock — goods
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. staff — employees

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