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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. swing — to play on
  4. degree — from a university
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. rush — hurry
  7. swing — in golf
  8. row — a line
  9. swing — music
  10. last — finally
  11. game — a match
  12. row — to paddle
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. last — final
  16. branch — a division
  17. degree — an amount
  18. last — to go on
  19. game — wild animals
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. degree — temperature
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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