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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. fine — all right
  4. field — farmland
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. field — a subject
  8. fine — high quality
  9. drill — a practice
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. field — for sport
  12. drill — the tool
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. degree — from a university
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. drill — army training
  18. stem — to come from
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. stem — a stem cell

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